Life changing moments
by A-Karana
Summary: Set after season 5: After the team left everything changes for Cam- in more ways than one.
1. Chapter 1

I wanted to... I tried... I intended... I thought about... in the end I just couldn't stay away and had to write again. The way the last story ended made me want to know more, although the whole story is pretty much done already in my head. I hope you're still there, and I also hope some new readers will join us. I really appreciate your reviews and I hope you will send some my way, telling me what you think and what you like or don't like.

So here we go again, third installment in my Cadgins universe.

The story is set between season 5 and season 6.

I don't own anything.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Devils**

"Good morning, everyone, welcome to our first team meeting in this new constellation," Cam said and looked around at the people who had gathered around the table up on the mezzanine.

"For those who haven't met each other yet: Over here we have Dr. Edison. He will act as a stand in for our forensic anthropologist Dr. Brennan, together with the interns Mr. Bray, Mr. Fisher and Mr. Vaziri," she said. "Mr. Nigel-Murray is currently on vacation. Also of the old team we have the assigned FBI psychologist Dr. Sweets and Dr. Hodgins, our entomologist, geologist and botanist," Cam continued, but was soon interrupted by the one she had just been talking about.

"Bugs, soil and slime to sum it up," he shrugged and leaned back against the backrest of the couch again. He was the only one sitting on the couch. Not because there wasn't a chair free- there was- but because it was his way of making a point. He was the rebellious one; king of the lab and unofficial favorite of the boss.

"Thank you, for that helpful interruption, Dr. Hodgins," Cam said pointedly and with dangerously raised eyebrows. He'd known she would put him in his place, not caring that he was the father of their unborn baby. At that moment she was his boss.

"New on the team I welcome Mrs. Simmons, the forensic artist," she went on and pointed to the red haired, pale woman with the large gipsy earrings.

"Mr. Brown of the Georgetown University, faculty of informatics," she introduced next and Hodgins couldn't help but grin. The chubby, blonde man looked even younger than Sweets and even more of a geek- in the worst way.

"And the new liaison officers assigned to us Agent Perotta and Agent Mosse," Cam went on without interruptions, pointing with an open hand to each person while she was talking about him or her. The "old" ones all already knew Perotta, but the brown haired and blue eyed agent next to her was new.

"For those who don't know me yet, my name is Dr. Camille Saroyan and I'm the head of the forensics department here, as well as the Medical Examiner," she finished the introductions and then finally sat down on her chair at the head of the table.

She took the pen and the clipboard that were lying there and quickly read through the notes she had made before. "Any questions right away?" she asked and looked around. Slowly Fisher raised a hand and looked expectantly in her direction. "Yes, Mr. Fisher?" Cam asked guardedly, knowing that a question or comment from Fisher was rarely cheery or appropriate.

"Considering the gruesome and awe-inspiring darkness that surrounds us in this world, and especially in here, do you think it's wise to throw another helpless soul into it?" he asked in his usually gloomy manner. Cam hung her head and took a deep breath. She should have seen it coming. Although she had not yet officially announced her pregnancy at the lab, it was slowly becoming apparent. The small bump she was showing was getting bigger and more obvious and she was aware that the forensic anthropologists surrounding her would most likely be able to tell that her body was changing, even without an ultra sound or x-ray. Before she could open her mouth though to say something, Hodgins had already jumped into action, off the couch and by her side, like a protective bodyguard, while he glared at Fisher.

"Hey man, back off! This is my kid and it'll be more than welcome in this world," he told Fisher. Cam sighed loudly at the inappropriate turn this talk had taken and she exchanged a look with Agent Perotta who was barely able to contain her laughter, but looked sympathetically.

"Ok, then let's get this out of the way as well, since Dr. Hodgins has already started," Cam said, getting ready for the next much more personal announcement. "Yes, I'm pregnant," she confirmed unnecessarily. "As for the work here it's not an issue at the moment and hopefully won't be for another three months," she said.

"The devil has your souls already," Fisher shook his head sadly.

"And with that cheery thought let's focus back on work, now shall we?" Cam smiled too brightly at Fisher, a sure sign that he was pissing her off and the others all nodded. The first team conference of the Jeffersonian's new forensic department had started, year 1 after Dr. Brennan's leave.

* * *

"Have you heard anything from Booth or Dr. Brennan?" Perotta asked Cam when they were still up on the mezzanine one hour later. They had had to talk about some organizational things and had sent the others off. Now they were just chatting though, a cup of tea in front of them both since Cam couldn't drink or smell coffee anymore. She had very few problems with nausea or other typical side effects of pregnancy, but the smell of coffee was getting her every time.

"Seeley has called several times and I'll see his son this weekend, he's sure to have something new as well," Cam replied. She took another sip of her tea before she put the cup back on the table and placed a hand on her belly, covering the bump with her palm and rubbing it slightly to calm the flutters she felt, knowing her baby was most likely kicking up a storm in there again.

"Can I ask how far along you are?" Perotta asked with a small smile when she saw it.

"16th week," Cam replied and smiled back at her, showing her that she didn't mind the question at all.

"Wow, I thought you'd be at the end of the first trimester, but not farther along," the FBI agent said surprised.

"I've been lucky so far that I'm not showing too much, but it seems that for about a week now I get bigger every day. You can basically watch me burst out of my clothes. Another two weeks or so and I'll be huge," Cam sighed, still stroking over her baby bump.

"You know already what it is?"

"No, we're told week 18 is the earliest we can tell, since we decided against an amniocentesis," she shook her head.

"Dr. Hodgins seems pretty excited," Perotta said knowingly.

"Oh please, don't get me started. He's been jumping off the walls like a bouncy ball since he found out," Cam snickered. "But I'm happy he is happy, so we're good," she added then.

"I didn't know you two were together. Last time I was here he was still somehow involved with the artist, Miss..." Perotta couldn't remember the name.

"Montenegro," Cam helped her out. "She's in Paris now, sends us cards every week, mostly ones she drew herself," she went on, but didn't comment on Perotta's initial comment. "So how's that new guy you're training?" she asked to change the topic.

"Mosse? He's a good agent but an ass otherwise. Thinks he's irresistible and keeps hitting on every female he sees. You were on the list until he found out you were pregnant," she laughed when she said the last part.

"Damn, now the baby bump is ruining my chances," Cam joked.

"You don't even have much of a bump yet. Really, as I said, I never would have thought you were this far along," the agent insisted.

"All these years of hard exercise and diet for nothing," Cam sighed exaggeratedly and patted her belly. "I'll take revenge once you're Michelle's age," she promised.

"Ok, I gotta get back to the Hoover and report what we discussed. I'll take Mosse with me, otherwise I can't guarantee the safety of the females in here," Perotta said and stood up.

"And I'll go back to my dead bodies. Three still in the freezer," Cam nodded and got up as well.

"Gang shooting?"

"Family drama. Father freaked out and killed his wife and two daughters, then tried to kill himself, but didn't succeed," Cam elaborated and Perotta scrunched up her face in dismay.

"See you, Cam," the agent said and made use of their new found agreement to be on a first name basis.

"Bye Payton," Cam replied and walked off to her office.

* * *

"Sorry for blurting it out today," Hodgins said when he came up behind Cam and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on her shoulder while she kept cutting tomatoes for the salad she was making for dinner.

"It's ok. It's not like I was trying to hide it. Not that I could, " she replied and smiled.

"How are you two today? We barely saw each other now that you have those three bodies to autopsy," he asked and stroked over her belly.

"I'm good, relieved now that the team is complete again. And I think little one agrees. From the flutters I felt all morning I'd say he was working out in there," she replied and her smile widened when his hand slipped underneath her shirt again. It had become a habit that he just couldn't stop these past few weeks.

"You always refer to little one as 'he'," he pointed out.

"And you always refer to him as 'she' so we're even," she grinned. "Besides, I'm still convinced it's a boy," she added.

"But I want a daddy's girl to adore me," he pouted playfully.

"Sorry, but I didn't come equipped with the 'chose gender here' button," she shot back a bit sharper than necessary.

"I wouldn't want you any other way," he grinned, knowing this was as far as her mood swings went up to this point. Just to be safe he placed a kiss on her cheek.

"And what were you up to today?" she asked him when he stepped back from her and turned his attention to the take out containers she had put on the counter.

"I showed our two newbies the lab and then hung out with Wendell and Arastoo for lunch. Oh, and I worked some more on my research," he summed it up.

"Bet you three were up to no good," she raised her eyebrows.

"Hey, we only talked about the next baseball game. Wendell wants to join us," he let her know. "Michelle not eating with us today?" he asked when he took out plates and silverware.

"No, she's out with Perry," Cam said and added oil to the dressing.

"Speaking of family… have you decided yet when we'll tell your family about little one?" he asked.

"After his tenth birthday?" she only half joked.

"Cam," he just sighed exasperatedly.

"Yeah, I know we should tell them... I just don't want to," she whined.

"A few more weeks and they'll be able to see it once you step into a room," he pointed out.

"I know. This kid is growing in warp speed now," she muttered.

"And that's a good thing, right?" he said and placed a kiss on her temple.

"Yeah," she admitted defeated and sat down at the table while he served their food. "I'm gonna call my dad this week," she offered and he nodded. "It's Felicia's birthday next weekend. We could go there," she added then.

"Face them all together at their place? I like the idea," he told her.

* * *

Through the large glass front of her office Cam had seen him entering the lab. She was out of her chair and into the lab a second later and stopped him just before he wanted to enter the office he had been hurrying to.

"Agent Mosse, anything I can help you with?" Cam asked him friendly but pointedly before he could enter the artist's office. She was still sitting in front of a skull working on a facial reconstruction, unaware of what was going on outside of her office.

"Just wanted to see if I could invite my new colleagues to lunch," he replied and put on his charm smile. He had a certain charm, Cam had to admit, but she also remembered what Perotta had told her about him and she wasn't too fond of having another ill fated romance between the FBI and someone of her team.

"How nice of you to invite us all," Cam grinned, knowing that wasn't what he had meant. "Sadly Mrs. Simmons can't join us, because she needs to finish what she's working on so she can leave for a night at the art gallery with her husband early this evening," she went on. "But why don't you come with me and we get the others." She had to bite her cheeks to keep herself from laughing when she saw the shocked look on the agent's face.

"Oh, uhm, ok," he stuttered, unaware that she had noticed him flinching when she had mentioned the husband. He followed her over to their new informatics geek, whom Hodgins had given the nickname "lab rat" after only a day. Cam thought that it was somewhat fitting, but had lectured him anyway when he had used it to the poor kid's face.

"Mr. Brown, Agent Mosse just invited us all to lunch. You want to come along?" she asked him and leaned into the ookey room where they had set up his equipment.

"No, I need to finish the IP search first," he replied without looking up from his screen. Cam waited another moment for the "Thanks for the invitation" but it never came.

"Ok, then let's see what the others are up to," she shrugged and led him to Hodgins' lab, knowing he was in there with Wendell, the intern of the week, and Clark. When she opened the door and stepped inside she found Clark holding a large spider in his hand, watching it in fascination.

"Holy crap," she exclaimed loudly and jumped back when she saw the hairy beast, placing a hand on her chest to calm herself.

"Uh oh," Wendell made quietly when he saw Cam's expression and Hodgins wide eyes.

"Hodgins, what is that... thing doing here in the lab?" she asked him and gesticulated wildly with her right hand while she started scratching her neck with the other.

"Dr. Edison brought it in. They rescued it at the airport today and it needs a temporary home," he explained and carefully took the spider from his colleague.

"This is not a zoo, Dr. Edison, this is the Jeffersonian Institute," she told him, with a whining undertone in her voice. Why did she always have to play kindergarten teacher?

"Hey, I have rats here and beetles that are far more dangerous," Hodgins replied and put the spider back in its terrarium.

"Rats are fluffy rodents and you perform scientific tests with those beetles . Do you perform tests with the spider?" she asked challengingly.

"I might," he shrugged, unwilling to lose this argument in front of the three other guys in the room, especially because Mosse was already grinning cockily.

"Hey now, this is not a toy," Clark disagreed this time.

"Get that thing out of here, with all its disgusting legs and hairs," Cam ordered and shuddered involuntarily. "And I guess it's just me you have to invite to lunch. Those three obviously have a task now," she turned to Mosse.

"Hey, you're not going to lunch without me," Hodgins protested and stepped closer towards her.

"Oh really. Why is that?" she shot back, raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Because...," he needed a moment to think of something that wouldn't sound too weepy, "You're carrying my baby," he finally said.

"Which you won't get to touch as long as you're cuddling with spiders," Cam had the last word. "Let's go," she turned to the agent, who extended his arm and led her outside, grinning in Hodgins direction.

"We should just put it in his bed and hope he gets bitten," Hodgins muttered when they had left and the doors closed.

"We better do as she ordered or you might have to sleep in the spider house," Wendell grinned teasingly and made him groan. He had a point after all.

* * *

"How was your date today with the sleazy agent?" Hodgins asked her later that day when she came home and found him sitting in the living room. He had already gone home to look after the renovations, while she had to sit in another board meeting.

"It wasn't a date, but lunch was nice," she replied and kicked off her heels, still looking at him from the hallway.

"Good for you. Took us four hours to find a new place for the spider and another two hours to take it there and then get back to the lab," he reported in a foul mood.

"Poor guys," she cooed and came into the living room. "If you had asked permission as it is ordered by protocol you could have saved yourselves all that work," she told him then and straddled his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, even though he was still pouting.

"I don't like this new FBI guy and I don't like it when you spend your lunch break with him," he told her seriously when she pulled back from the short kiss.

"I needed to teach him a lesson. Believe it or not, this lunch had nothing to do with you," she replied.

"What lesson?" he asked her, placed his hands on her hips and pulled her forward, closer to him.

"He wanted to hit on our new artist, so I made him pay for my lunch and told him at the end, that if he ever tries something like that again, I will make him pay again- only not for lunch," she grinned.

"The intimidation thing again, huh?" he laughed.

"I have to set some boundaries right from the beginning. He can fish in his own pond, but stay away from the Jeffersonian," Cam smiled back with a firm nod.

"As long as you are still biting when I throw out my rod," he said and wiggled his eyebrows.

"You are disgusting," she spoke slowly and pronounced every word carefully, underlining them with a stab to his chest with her finger for every finished word.

"Just disgusting enough it seems," Hodgins laughed and let one hand glide under her blouse, while he placed the other on her neck and pulled her head down to him. The kiss was slow and loving and just as slowly his hand wandered up, farther under her blouse, greedy to touch more of her soft, warm skin. He felt her weave her fingers through the short hairs on the back of his neck, then stroke through his curls while he let his tongue glide over her bottom lip and was granted entrance into her mouth. She moved even closer to him, her stomach resting against his, their groins touching. He took his hand out of her blouse and started to unbutton it, knowing it would be easier this way to get more access. Carefully he let his fingers wander over her necklace, traced its outlines, and then went further down to her cleavage. He grinned into the kiss, feeling the swell of her breast under his fingers, knowing they had become fuller already. With a moan Jack brought down his other hand and cupped her breasts, then massaged them through her bra.

"Ow, Jack!" she suddenly exclaimed and pulled back from him.

"What?" he asked shocked, not knowing what was going on, and placed his hands on her thighs to keep her from getting up.

"Awww... God..." she groaned uncomfortably and carefully rubbed her breast with both hands. "They hurt," she told him then, somewhat accusingly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," he apologized and stroked softly over her arm, while she still tried to rub away the pain.

"Me either until now," she admitted then. "But damn it, that really hurt."

"Because of the pregnancy?" he asked just to be sure.

"Yes, they're getting bigger, just like the rest of me," she told him with a small smile.

"Bigger but can't be touched? Where's the sense in that?" he complained and made her laugh.

"Read your 'What to Expect' book. The pain won't last," she said and kissed him again, careful to keep her chest away from his chest or his hands. "What is it with men and boobs anyway?" she asked him and pulled away, the question popping into her head.

"It's in our genes. We can't help it," he replied and sealed her lips again, silencing any more questions.

* * *

"Finally, I thought you guys would be quicker," Mosse greeted Cam, Hodgins and Clark when they arrived at the crime scene a few days later.

"We would have if you hadn't hung up the phone without giving us an address or directions first," Cam replied and wanted to take her bag out of the trunk of the car when Hodgins stopped her and took it out for her. She didn't say anything but looked disapprovingly at him, which he simply ignored. They were already dressed in the jumpsuits and heavy boots and found themselves in front of what looked like an old empty industry building.

"What is this here?" Hodgins asked the agent- also as a tactic to avoid a discussion with Cam.

"It's the rehearsal building of the Washington Theater. Or was until two years ago. Some rooms are still used for poetry slams and storage though," Perotta, who came out of the building, informed them. "I hope you have waterproof shoes," she said then and looked at Clark's leather shoes and slacks he still wore. Again he had refused to go out in the jumpsuits, putting fashion before everything else.

"Oh no," he just groaned, knowing that he hadn't even brought work-appropriate clothes or shoes. How could he know that "dead body in a theater" meant water and dirt?

"Told you, pretty boy," Cam teased him with a grin and followed the two agents into the building, Hodgins walking beside her, still carrying her bag.

"They found the body when they did a photo shoot in here for a CD cover. The photographer has a key because he used to work for the theater company," Perotta let them in on the details and led them down a corridor, with walls painted black. They walked around the corner and found themselves in a storage room which was full of shelves, which were all filled with caskets, big ones and small ones.

"Holy crap, what is this? The city morgue?" Hodgins wondered aloud.

"Could be," Cam nodded and pointed to the other side of the room where all kinds of body parts in every size and shape lay- from display dummies. The corridor got darker and they all turned on their flashlights, walking down some steps and found themselves in the basement. The floor was covered ankle deep with water and the room smelled like mold and death.

"Personal indoor pool. Kinda cool, huh?" Mosse grinned, but stayed on the stairs out of the water.

"The body is over here in the story in between," Perotta told them something more helpful and pointed to a story that sat in between the basement and the first story, about 5 feet high and painted in neon blue.

"What the heck were they doing in here?" Cam wondered because of the weird colors of the walls and the creepy atmosphere.

"No idea," Perotta shrugged while Cam and Clark tried to crawl into the small room. Clark was in first, cursing as he went in, ruining his trousers and shoes. Cam tried to crawl in next, but slipped and stumbled backwards.

"Hey, careful," Hodgins said as he steadied her. "Why don't you wait outside and look at the body once it's back at the lab," he told her and saw her features darken immediately.

"Hodgins," she started but he shook his head, not willing to discuss this with her.

"No, it's an unnecessary risk. Wait here," he told her, jumped and then pushed himself up into the room. Cam looked annoyed at her female colleague of the FBI. The blonde just shrugged though.

"I think it's cute," she said and made both Cam and Mosse roll their eyes.

"What have you got squints?" the male agent asked the two scientists.

"A second body if you call me that one more time," Hodgins shot back. He didn't mind Booth or Cam calling them squints to their faces, but that new guy was annoying him anyway so he was glad he had found a reason to fight with him.

"Pipe down, pal. I'm the one with the gun here," Mosse replied and put his hands on his hips, annoyed at Hodgins attitude.

"I'm not your 'pal'," the entomologist spat and stomped down his foot harder than necessary, the water on the ground splashing up and staining the dress shirt of the agent. "Oops, sorry dude," he grinned, knowing that if he'd done that with Booth he would have shot him.

"Ok, boys stop the chick fight and tell me what you've got," Perotta put an end to it, while Cam stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a look into the blue room.

"Male, in his twenties, very shiny teeth," Clark said, grateful that they could concentrate on work again.

"They're bleached," Hodgins knew.

"No clothes," Clark went on.

"Decomposed?" Cam wanted to know.

"No, more like... just naked," Hodgins shook his head and shone the flashlight onto the walls. "The water was up here as well, the body could have been washed in," he said and shone farther up. "How many stories are there?" he asked them. "I need to check where the water came from. Maybe I'll find the crime scene and the clothes," he asked.

"There are four stories, the elevator is over there," Perotta told him and pointed to the hallway.

"Ok," Hodgins said and jumped down to the others, leaving Clark alone in the blue room with the body. "You're coming with me?" he asked Cam, so she wouldn't climb in as soon as he was gone.

"It's not like you're leaving without me anyway," she grumbled, knowing him too well.

"This could easily be the set for a new Saw movie," Hodgins chose not to comment on what she had said.

"Who knows what we'll find," she replied and stepped into the elevator. Hodgins joined her and pushed the button for the fourth floor. The metal door closed and there was a loud noise.

"Whoa!" Hodgins yelled and jumped to Cam, steadying her again as two large grates fell down on each side of the elevator. "You're ok?" he asked her worriedly.

"You're the one who jumped," she pointed out calmly.

"That thing nearly knocked me out," he defended himself. "And I'm just worried."

"You're hovering and it's annoying," she complained.

"Because I'm worried. I don't want anything to happen to you or little one," he insisted.

"And I appreciate it, but I need to do my job, Jack," she argued back and stepped out of the elevator into a large room, that was completely dark, the walls painted pitch black as well as the floor.

"Your job is dead bodies, not climbing," he pointed out and took her hand as he switched on the flashlight. "This is like the house of horror at the fair... only it's real," he commented when he saw more body parts on shelves, rows with chairs and finally a large stage.

"And I think we just found the victims clothes and maybe something else," Cam said, shining her flashlight up a shelf, following maggots that seemed to rain down.

"I want light, a bodyguard and the ghostbusters, once I start working in here," Jack requested warily and gripped her hand tighter.

* * *

"What have you got?" Cam asked hours later as Hodgins walked into her autopsy room where she was working on a body with Dr. Edison.

"There was definitely human flesh up on that shelf, most likely organs," Hodgins replied.

"Makes sense, the heart and the lungs are missing," Cam nodded.

"Guess he bared his heart in this building," Jack grinned. While Cam only snorted, Clark looked disapprovingly at him.

"Dr. Saroyan there seems to be something gauged in the victim's throat," he turned to his boss instead.

"Let me see," she replied quietly, opened the mouth of the victim and slowly pulled out a folded paper with the tweezers. "What is that?" she wondered aloud and placed it in the Petri dish Jack held out for her. He took some tweezers himself and unfolded the paper slowly and carefully.

"O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou. That, notwithstanding thy capacity. Receiveth as the sea, naught enters there, Of what validity and pitch so e'er, But falls into abatement and low price  
Even in a minute," Hodgins read. "See, told you he bared his heart," he grinned then.

"That's Orsino's opening meditation from Twelfth Night," Cam told him.

"You know Shakespeare, my lady?" Jack grinned and bowed to her, which made Cam chuckle.

"Uhm, can we please concentrate back on how the paper ended up in his throat and you save the rest for later?" Clark interrupted them, annoyed by their flirting.

"Dude! It's not like we're making out," Hodgins complained.

"Maybe I'll find some bruises on the remaining tissue," Cam shrugged and concentrated back on the body.

"I'll take this over to my lab with me. You'll let me know when we can go home?" Hodgins asked Cam.

"Sure. Not too late. I want to go and get something to wear for Felicia's birthday," she replied, only shortly looking up.

"Ok, then see you later," Hodgins nodded and walked off, but still heard the relieved sigh of Dr. Edison.

* * *

"Michelle, will you come with us tomorrow?" Cam asked Friday night when they were all sitting in Hodgins' living-room watching TV.

"To?" she wanted to know.

"New York, Felicia's birthday."

"Only if you kill me first and drag my cold, dead body there," the teen replied and made Hodgins laugh.

"Hey, she's still my sister," Cam complained. "And I'm a coroner so I just might," she added.

"I've been to her apartment one time and that was enough," Michelle insisted.

"Why? What's wrong with her apartment?" Hodgins now wanted to know.

"It's about the size of my closet at Cam's place, situated over a Chinese restaurant and looks like a clothes factory exploded in it," Michelle summed it up.

"It's kind of messy," Cam admitted.

"Hey, I don't mind messy apartments. Would give me the opportunity to do some field work on bugs and rodents," he shrugged unimpressed.

"It's not worse than the rehearsal house you told me about," the teen added.

"Hodgins seems to like it now," Cam said and raised one eyebrow.

"What did you do?" Michelle asked with a smile, knowing he must have done something if Cam looked at him that way.

"I followed Mosse to the restrooms, switched off the lights and then let my phone play the 'I want to play a game' quote from Saw. He jumped ten feet high and then ran off," he said and laughed.

"If he beats the crap out of you one day, don't come complaining to me," Cam said and grabbed the bag of chips from the table.

"You would stand by and watch as the father of your unborn child gets beaten into a pulp?" he asked with wide eyes.

"No, I'd save you and kick your ass later myself," she replied after swallowing a hand full of chips.

"Guess I have to wait for you to save me," he muttered and patted her stomach. Just then a phone beeped.

"Ok, that's Perry, I gotta go," Michelle announced.

"Ok, have fun," Cam said. "Just not too much fun," she added then.

"I'll behave," Michelle promised and hugged Cam goodbye and waved at Hodgins before she was out the door.

"Now whatever shall we do with this evening?" Hodgins smile got sultry and he moved closer.

"What about the hot tub? Haven't been in there in a while," Cam smiled back.

"Yay, let's take baby for a swim," Hodgins laughed.

"So not what I was thinking about," Cam grumbled and got up from the couch.

"Just joking, babe," Hodgins laughed warmly as he slung his arms around her waist and pressed a kiss to her neck.

* * *

"You really weren't joking about the part of New York her apartment is in. I'd feel safer if I were armed," Hodgins admitted as they walked to Felicia's apartment.

"I grew up a block over. They don't scare me. Old neighbors," Cam shrugged unimpressed and wrapped her arm around his waist while he tightened his hold around her shoulders.

"Are they doing what I think they are doing?" he whispered and nodded in the direction of the other side of the street where a group of men stood, wearing hoodies and ballcaps.

"Dealing drugs?" she asked him and he nodded. "Yup, you got that right," she confirmed his suspicion.

"It's three o' clock in the afternoon, it's not even dark out yet," he pointed out, but she just shrugged. When she felt him tense she looked at him, then followed his gaze to the guy who was walking over, coming straight towards them.

"Well, well, well, isn't that our fancy doctor and her newest boy toy. What happened to that FBI jerk?" the guy asked, stopping in front of them, blocking their way. He was taller than Hodgins, built and had an attitude. Hodgins looked at Cam when he felt her drawing circles on his waist with her thumb, while she looked completely relaxed and even smiled at the guy.

"Gomez, you've always been an idiot and I see you haven't changed a bit," Cam said, still grinning.

"Watch it Saroyan, there are bad boys out here," he warned with a grin, leaning closer and made Jack step partially in front of her.

"Playin' bodyguard, Richie Rich? Better leave that to us," Gomez barked at Jack.

"Hey, watch it or I'll kick your ass. Will hurt even more now that I'm wearing these heels," Cam said and pulled Jack back so he was standing beside her again. "Jack, meet Gomez, my former direct neighbor. Always played bodyguard for me when my brothers didn't want to have me around," she introduced them and the men eyed each other warily.

"So that's the rich guy, huh?" Gomez asked.

"We live together and we work at the same lab, that's all you need to know," Cam told him and raised her eyebrows, which made him step back a bit.

"O-kay," he dragged out. "I'll keep an eye on your car," Gomez promised.

"I'd appreciate that. You're not coming up for Felicia's birthday?" she asked.

"Maybe later. First have to take care of business," he replied and jerked his thumb in the direction of the other side of the road.

"I didn't see anything and I don't want to know," Cam said. "You know I'd have to get the cops on your butt," she warned him.

"I know Cami. Welcome back," he smiled, this time a warm smile and hugged her briefly before he was off again.

"Please tell me you just didn't hug the local drug lord," Hodgins gasped when they walked on.

"Nah," she shook her head. "He's been in prison too often. He's maybe the duke or so," she grinned.

"What a relief," he rolled his eyes and hoped they'd reach the building soon.

* * *

"That cake is really good, did you make it?" Cam asked her aunt after swallowing another bite of the creamy sin.

"No, my neighbor Mabel did. She makes great cakes," her aunt replied. "Jack, have you tried it yet?" she turned to him.

"No, I still have the apple tart to eat," he said and showed her his plate.

"And you should probably stop eating cake altogether. You gained weight," Felicia pointed out to Cam.

"Mind your own business," Cam told her and shoved another bite of the pie in her mouth.

"Just warnin' you. Your boyfriend might not think you're hot anymore when you look like Free Willy," Felicia went on anyway.

"Oh, dear God," Hodgins muttered, knowing Cam was already complaining about putting on weight. He didn't need her sister to feed those insecurities. "I'll find Cam hot no matter what, but thanks for your concern," he said to Felicia.

"Just wanted to be helpful," she said offended and held up her hands.

"You wanted to insult me and make me miserable for your own entertainment," Cam shot back and pointed her fork at her sister.

"Take that thing out of my face or I'll take the cake away from you," Felicia said aggressively and marched closer to where Cam and Hodgins were standing.

"I'll shove this cake up your..." Cam started and Hodgins did the only thing he could think of to shut her up- he kissed her.

"Calm down," he told her quietly when he pulled back. "She's just trying to get you all worked up."

"It's just... this chaos here, the noise, her comments," Cam sighed and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"You can go if you don't like it here," Felicia spat and walked off, muttering under her breath.

"How much longer do you want to stay?" Hodgins asked her.

"I just want to wait until my dad gets here, so we can tell him," she relied quietly so she wouldn't be overheard. Just then there was a knock on the door and Felicia went to open it. Cam's nieces and nephews together with her sister in law were standing in front of it, as well as her father who hugged the birthday girl.

"Uncle Hodgins!" Tallulah yelled when she saw him and ran past Felicia and the other relatives and jumped into Hodgins arms, who caught her.

"Hey Lullah," he grinned at her and kissed her cheek when she tapped against it with one finger.

"Hi Aunt Cami," Tanesha had meanwhile found Cam and hugged her around the waist, resting her head against her stomach.

"Hello princess," Cam smiled at the girl and picked her up as well, which made Hodgins give her a stern look. It was his "You're not supposed to do that" look, she already knew too well.

"Hi guys," Matt's wife greeted them after she had congratulated Felicia. They both returned the greeting and Cam put the girl back on the ground, knowing Jack would get really annoyed otherwise. "Oh my God, you're pregnant," her sister in law exclaimed as soon as Cam had put the girl down.

"What?" Cam stuttered surprised. She wore a wide blouse and she knew it wasn't that obvious yet.

"Don't you try to deny it. I have four kids and I know what a pregnant woman looks like. You surely got the glow, sister," she laughed and hugged Cam briefly. Cam still had the deer in headlights look on her face.

"Is it true Cami? You're having a baby?" her father asked quietly and came closer.

"Yes, we're having a baby," Hodgins replied while Cam still hadn't found her voice.

"That's what's different about her," her aunt exclaimed and hugged Cam tightly before she knew what hit her.

"Congratulations," her father was next and by then Cam had found her voice again.

"Thanks Dad. I originally planned on telling you myself," she apologized.

"That's ok," he smiled. "Just tell me, is everything ok?" he asked, knowing her history.

"Everything's great," she confirmed with a large smile.

"Uncle Hodgins, you didn't have to knock her up. I could have just come over and lived at your place," Tallulah said dead serious while Hodgins still had her in his arms. Now he was speechless, at least for a moment.

"That's a really nice offer Lullah, I'm sure we'll consider it next time," he replied then.

"Next time?" Cam asked him and he just shrugged.

"So when is the due date and when will you get married? You should do it soon, while it's not as obvious," Cam's great aunt said from the couch.

"I'm 18 weeks along now and there won't be a wedding in the foreseeable future," Cam replied honestly and pulled Tanesha against her, when she sought her contact again.

"You didn't propose to her? What is wrong with you son? First you live in sin and now this kid will be born out of wedlock? You should really be ashamed of yourselves! All that money of yours won't save you from the devil," her great-aunt fumed and waved her cane around.

"Guess we should be on the look-out for a tall red guy, with two horns, pointy ears and a tail then," Hodgins dead panned unfazed, because he had seen this argument coming.

"If I remember correctly the devil's dead. He got high and then electrocuted by his brother, you remember?" Cam grinned at him and then they both laughed, remembering the past case.

"You know this is just great, you just had to go and ruin my birthday," Felicia exclaimed then.

"Excuse me?" Cam turned to her sister, her niece still leaning with her back against her front.

"This is my day and you come in here with that perfect boyfriend of yours telling everyone that you'll have the perfect baby to make your great life even better. Thank you very much," Felicia screeched.

"Looks like Lucifer's sister just found us," Cam said to Hodgins who started laughing, despite the fury in Felicia's eyes.

"Did you hear that, Dad? She accused me of being the devil!" Felicia asked loudly, so the other relatives would know what Cam had just said. Great Aunt Ann gasped in outrage.

"Cam, really," her father sighed.

"That's all you're saying? That's all? She ruined my birthday, Dad, and now she's insulting me," Felicia complained again.

"What do you want him to do? Spank me?" Cam provoked her sister even more.

"That's enough now Cami!" her father ordered.

"I didn't do anything! Why are you turning on me now? It's not my fault she hasn't had a decent man in years," Cam protested.

"Here we go again," Hodgins muttered, while the other guests watched the argument like a tennis match. "You want to escape with me, Lullah?" he whispered in the girl's ear.

"Like when the prince saves the princess?" she asked him.

"Exactly like that," he nodded and walked with her into the kitchen, closing the door behind him. "You think there's some ice-cream in here for us?" he asked her.

"Aunt Felicia hides it underneath the frozen pizza in the freezer," the girl knew and pointed to the stack when he opened it. He took out two popsicles and handed her one.

"Good?" he asked and threw the wrappers in the trash.

"Mmh," she made appreciatively. "Can I come over when the baby is there and see if it's cute or wrinkly, like I was?" she asked him after a minute of silence.

"Sure," he nodded.

"Kay," she said and seemed content with that answer and her popsicle for the moment, while the yelling in the living room continued.

* * *

"I did not throw your first cell phone in the toilet," Felicia yelled at Cam. Fifteen minutes later they were still at it, yelling at each other. By now their argument reached back several years, digging out old stories and arguing about them again.

"They are crazy," Hodgins whispered to Tallulah when they came back out of the kitchen. Tanesha was still standing in front of Cam, looking up to her one aunt and then to the other standing across from her. She didn't seem to mind the screeching and yelling, while most of the other guests had gone back to their own conversations, not minding the two arguing sisters.

"You did! You even flushed, because you couldn't stand it that I had a cell phone and you didn't!" Cam replied.

"You two done yet?" Hodgins asked bravely and noticed how Cam kept rubbing her bump. "Everything ok?" he asked her quietly and stepped closer.

"The flutters are back," she told him, still eyeing her sister.

"Seems like baby doesn't like it when Mommy is yelling," he said and pulled her closer sideways so he wouldn't crush Tanesha.

"She is driving me crazy," Cam huffed and pointed at her sister who was staring at them.

"I can see that," Hodgins chuckled and earned himself a slap on his shoulder. "We could always just go home," he pointed out. "It's a three hour drive and I don't like it if she upsets you."

"She just wants me to leave, because she can't stand not being the center of attention," Cam grumbled.

"You're just feeding my theory again that you lose your mind when you're around family," he pointed out.

"Yeah, because you're always so sane, conspiracy man," Cam grinned.

"See, now you're smiling again," he said and smiled as well. "Oh and Tallulah wants to talk to you," he remembered.

"About?"

"She wants to warn you about the baby. Apparently she think that if we send it back now and take her instead it would be so much easier for us, because she can already talk, doesn't need diapers and promises to clean up her own room," he told her about the offer.

"I don't know if I should find that funny or sad," Cam sighed. "Maybe we should keep an eye on them while Matt is gone if we can find the time."

"Tomorrow Rebecca is bringing over Parker for his date with the pool," Hodgins replied.

"You're the one he should have asked back then when he wanted Booth to date someone so he could have a pool," Cam grinned teasingly.

"Oh, come on," he just groaned and made her laugh.

"Aunt Cami, I really need to talk to you," Tallulah interrupted them then, staring up with her large brown eyes.

"Here or in private?" Cam asked her with a straight face.

"It's a business deal, so in private," the four year old decided and led her aunt and her uncle into the kitchen, her sister following them.

* * *

"If I say Lullah is a smart ass, I mean that lovingly," Hodgins said as they stepped into their own house late that evening.

"I really don't know how a four year old comes up with her ideas. It's scary," Cam agreed and kicked off her heels.

"Didn't Michelle say she'd be at Paris' place?" Hodgins asked suspiciously and looked down the stairway to the basement, seeing light from down there.

"Yes, she wanted to spend the night there," Cam nodded.

"She's the only one with a key besides you and me," he thought out loud and silently walked down the stairs, Cam following him.

"What if someone broke in?" Cam asked him.

"And they stayed in the basement to rob the hot tub?" he doubted. As quietly as he could he opened the door and followed the light to the pool area where splashing could be heard. When they rounded the corner they both stopped, wide eyed and couldn't help but stare. In the pool Michelle was with Perry, heavily making out, while he had his hand in her bikini top and she was pressed up against the wall, her legs slung around his waist.

"Please tell me again why we want another one of those?" Cam asked Hodgins loudly and the teenagers jumped apart, only then noticing the adults.

"Delusion?" Hodgins asked her back and then turned to the teens. "You: go home," he said to Perry. "And you: go up to your room and wait for your trial," he then turned to Michelle, knowing that it was best for all of them if Cam had some time to calm down before she went into crazy mom mode again and killed the two teens. "And you: come with me," he told her and pulled her out of the room and up the stairs by her hand, so the teens had some time to get their stuff and leave.

"You know now why I want this one to be a boy?" she asked Hodgins after he had closed the door to his study.

"From now on I will refer to little one as 'he' until proven otherwise," he nodded and enveloped her in a hug.

**TBC**

**Hope you like the continuation  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, there really are a few people still out there reading this. Thank you for commenting on the first chapter, it really made me happy.

Last chapter I forgot something very important: Thanks to Gianna! Without her there would be no sequel and no readable story. Honestly, when I get the chapters back and see all the red in it from the corrections she made I am sometimes really embarrassed.

Now on with the story. I had no idea for a title so I just picked the two most provocative words out and put them there. Don't let it fool you.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Sexes and porn**

"At least we were able to find the identity of the victim," Cam said to Perotta as they walked from the artist's office to Cam's autopsy room.

"Honestly, you were able to find out the identify. I would still be lost on this one," Perotta admitted and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Cam's desk.

"Only took us three weeks," Cam sighed, obviously dissatisfied with the work of her team.

"It's the result that counts, right?" the agent tried to be supportive.

"If she would have worked with the tissue markers the way she should've, we wouldn't have had to deal with a picture of Quasimodo first," Cam grumbled. "But anything new, besides the fact that he was working for the theater?" she asked then.

"Mosse is still interviewing the other actors and actresses and trying to find out why no one reported him missing. I'll go over his records and financials as soon as I get back to the Hoover," the blonde woman replied.

"You already have the autopsy and the analysis reports. Clark and Wendell didn't find much on the bones, but they're going over them again," Cam summed up her team's work.

"You don't sound too happy about the work," Perotta said with a small, sympathetic smile.

"When the old team was here we had a sketch of the victim in a day, maybe two. Now it takes weeks, literally. Dr. Edison sucks the fun out for the interns because he's even more focused on work than Dr. Brennan and doesn't allow any kind of personal interaction and on top of it all I need a translator to understand the sentences out of the lab rat's mouth," Cam summed it up.

"Give them some time; they're all new in their positions. Rome wasn't built in a day," the FBI agent tried to support Cam.

"Hodgins thinks my short temper is a case of hormones. It drives me crazy that he and Michelle shrug off whatever I say with that look on their faces. I'm pregnant not crazy," Cam fumed.

"Everything ok again between you and Michelle?"

"Perry is still banned from the house and she from his. One baby will be enough in the foreseeable future," Cam shook her head.

"I know it's not any of my business, but don't you think you're too strict on that? From what you told me I figured they only made out a bit. It surely wasn't the first time and it won't be the last," Payton pointed out.

"I know. I just freaked out that night and as long as she has this attitude and won't talk to me, I won't try to talk to her either. I have enough troubles as it is. I don't even fit in my clothes anymore," the pathologist replied and sounded whiny when she said the last sentence.

"I really think this pregnancy suits you. You look great," Perotta complimented.

"Thank you. I never thought I'd say this but I actually like being pregnant so far. Sure, it's annoying that I don't fit in my old clothes anymore, but at the same time it gives me an excuse to buy new ones," Cam grinned and placed her hands on her baby bump without even registering it.

"Any news on the gender question?" Payton smiled back.

"Nah, he or she is still not cooperative. We have a 3D ultrasound on Wednesday though and I hope we'll be able to tell if we need pink or blue stuff in the future," Cam replied.

"Ok, I should get back to the Hoover and start working so we can solve this case at some point," Perotta said with a sigh and got up.

"And I have to change so I can get to the autopsy of my newest possible suicide candidate," she replied and stood up as well.

"Shot herself?" Perotta guessed.

"I wish. Jumped from the roof of a 30 story building into heavy traffic," Cam informed her and the agent scrunched up her face.

"Have fun with that," she laughed then and was off with a wave.

* * *

"You know, kid, if you have the same sleeping schedule once you're born I might not like you all that much in the evenings and during the night," Cam said quietly as she stroked both hands over her belly, where she felt real kicks now. She lay in the living room at her condo after a long day at work and wished she could sleep for half an hour, but little one was making it impossible with the kicks. "Let's do something for the stretch marks at least while you practice your somersaults," she sighed, knowing it was playtime and it would last for a while. She picked up the baby oil from the table, which she had brought with her, then lay back down and pulled up her long sleeved shirt. She squeezed some oil in her hands and warmed it up, then massaged it into her skin, trying to feel the kicks on the outside, but couldn't. She was feeling them alright inside of her, but for Jack's sake she hoped one would be able to feel them on the outside as well soon. "You like that, huh?" she asked her baby when it seemed to calm down and she kept massaging.

"What are you doing?" Michelle asked as a greeting and with one raised eyebrow. Her tone wasn't too friendly, more annoyed.

"Trying to prevent stretch marks," Cam replied calmly and tried not to let the attitude get to her.

"You sure got bigger these last two weeks," Michelle unnecessarily pointed out and threw her backpack on the ground, still looking into the living room from the entry.

"I know," Cam only shrugged and didn't stop what she was doing, unwilling to let Michelle ruin this moment. "Ah, there you are again," Cam laughed after a moment, when she felt another kick after a while of none.

"What?" Michelle asked confused, thinking Cam had spoken to her while she was untying her shoes.

"Nothing. The baby is kicking, that's all," Cam replied, still running her hands over her baby bump.

"You can feel that already?" Michelle seemed intrigued and dropped her attitude for the first time in nearly three weeks.

"For about a week now the flutters have become kicks. The feet are right here," Cam explained and pointed to the right side of her lower abdomen.

"That's pretty cool," Michelle grinned and sat down next to Cam, then placed her hand where Cam had just pointed.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to feel it yet. Jack always tries, but so far he hasn't been lucky," her legal guardian replied.

"Where is he anyway?" Michelle wondered, keeping her hand on Cam's belly anyway, trying to feel something.

"At his place, talking to the contractor. They called today and said they were done, so he's taking a look," Cam let her know.

"So when are we going to move for real?" her daughter wanted to know.

"Probably this weekend, if everything is done and they didn't forget the floor heating again," Cam rolled her eyes.

"What about the baby's room?" Michelle finally took her hand away, realizing that Cam was right and she wouldn't feel anything yet. She got up and sat down in the armchair next to the couch.

"They already put a new floor in and replaced the electrics and the windows. We just need to paint it and put the furniture in when this one here," Cam pointed to her belly," is more cooperative."

"Ok, just tell me when to pack my stuff," Michelle nodded and wanted to get up when silence spread between them.

"Hey Michelle, wait a moment, please," Cam requested and the teen sat back down. "I wanted to talk to you about that evening and everything," she went on uncomfortably. She sat up then and pulled her shirt back down, feeling stupid lying on the couch like that while having a serious talk with her teenage daughter.

"What's there to talk about?" Michelle asked defensively. "You banned him from the house and I'm not allowed to see him anymore outside of school."

"I know what I said and I'm aware that it was over the top. I want to apologize for that to you and to Perry," Cam admitted and Michelle looked up from her hands surprised. "I just didn't expect to find you... like that, that night and I lost it, I'm sorry. You just couldn't have chosen a worse night to let yourself get caught. The pregnancy, preparing for the baby, the new team at work and then this..." Cam trailed off.

"Chose? I never wanted you to walk in on us like that. You have no idea how mortified I still am," Michelle admitted and blushed just thinking about it.

"So I take it you and Perry..." Cam couldn't finish and just waved her hands helplessly.

"No, we're still not having sex if that's what you're asking," Michelle put it in words what Cam wanted to know. "But I don't understand what the big deal would be if we were. I mean, you sent me to the ObGyn and I'm on the pill and we've been together for nearly as long as you and Hodgins. And you are having a baby and moving in together," Michelle spoke her mind without becoming hostile.

"The big deal would be that you are sixteen and I'm responsible for you, Michelle. I know it's hard to fight some feelings at your age, believe me. But certain things can have certain consequences," Cam pointed out. "I mean, look at Jack and me. We are both adults, we knew what we were doing, we were careful and I still got pregnant without either of us wanting it- the first time that is," she went on. "I know you might feel like you have it all under control, but things can happen no matter how careful you are. And I'm not sure you'd be able to deal with the consequences."

"You mean a baby?" Michelle asked.

"Or an abortion, whatever it would be that you'd choose," Cam nodded. "You know I'll always be there for you no matter what, but before you take that step be aware that no method of birth control is 100% - and I speak from experience," she emphasized. "I don't want you to get hurt, honey. Just be careful and know what you're doing, that's all I'm asking," she requested then.

"Ok, I will," Michelle agreed quietly. "I just... it gets harder not to do it, you know?" she said then and Cam just nodded. "Would you punish me if it happened?" she asked and then hurried to add, "You know, one day in the future, not like, tomorrow."

"No, I wouldn't. I would just want you to be safe and experience it with someone you trust and who loves you," Cam replied with a small smile and Michelle smiled back. "And you should probably wait until the baby is here, otherwise I can't guarantee anything with me being hormonal and all," Cam laughed then.

"See, now you know how I feel all the time. It's not easy being a teenager," Michelle laughed with her.

"Tell Perry I'm sorry and that he's welcome anytime," Cam added next.

"Thank you, Cam," Michelle said relieved, went over to her and hugged her.

"Sorry again for the way I reacted," Cam said once more.

"It's ok. Perry and I shouldn't have snuck in like that, that night," Michelle replied and then pulled back, her eyes landing on Cam's stomach again.

"You want to come tomorrow to the ultra sound?" Cam asked her. "Hopefully we'll find out the sex."

"You're doing the 3D thing at Paul's office, aren't you?" Michelle knew.

"Yes, he has one of those," Cam nodded.

"I don't know. From what I've heard you and Hodgins might get all mushy gushy and I don't want to see that again. You could bring me some pics though," Michelle decided and Cam nodded.

"We will," she agreed and then changed the topic of their talk, getting all the gossip from Michelle's school so she was in the loop again after two weeks.

* * *

"You're both grinning like a Cheshire cat," Michelle laughed the next evening when Hodgins and Cam came back from their doctor's appointment.

"We saw the baby, of course we are," Hodgins said excitedly. "Come on, we brought you something," he went on and pulled her by her hand into the living room, while Cam only laughed at his enthusiasm and took off her shoes before she followed them.

"From your smiles I gather you know what we're having now? Michelle the second or Michael?" the teen teased them.

"Michelle the second, sure," Cam snorted laughingly. "I think Jack Stanley the third in this room is enough."

"The fourth," he corrected automatically and fiddled with the DVD player. "You're ready?" he asked Michelle. When she nodded and sat down beside Cam on the couch he started the disc they had brought from Paul's office.

"Is that the heartbeat?" Michelle wanted to know when the sound set in, while the picture was still a bit blurry.

"Yes, it is," Cam confirmed and scooted a bit to the side so Jack could squish in on the couch next to her.

"Isn't it a bit fast?" Michelle wondered.

"That's normal," her mother let her know.

"Wow," the teen said then and seemed stunned upon seeing the picture on the screen, clearly showing the face of the unborn baby inside of Cam. "You can really see the face."

"So amazing, right?" Hodgins grinned, still running high on excitement.

"Look, now the baby is waving his arms around. And now she's kicking. Or he?" Michelle wondered.

"Wait for it," Cam winked at her. "And don't you think little one looks like Jack?" she asked her.

"I think it looks like a baby," Michelle shrugged and cocked her head to the side then to the other, trying to see any resemblance. "You can even see the fingers and the fingernails," she said then in wonder.

"I'm really relieved to see the baby has all ten fingers and toes and just one head," Cam laughed and smiled at Jack when he took her hand, laced his fingers through hers and gave her a squeeze.

"Uhm, ok, is that what I think it is?" Michelle asked when the picture slowly ran down the body of the baby, showing the belly and then further down.

"If you're thinking that we're having a boy, then you're right," Cam nodded and smiled brightly.

"A little brother," Michelle gushed.

"A son," Jack said, still in awe of the mere fact and pressed a kiss against the back of Cam's hand.

"Meaning we'll need lots of blue or green for his room and we can finally start searching for a name," she told them.

"Do I get a say as well?" Michelle wondered.

"As long as you're not coming with stuff like 2Pac, Ne-Yo or 50 Cent," Hodgins teased her, making her pout and Cam just laughed.

"No rapper names and no royalty either. No Jack Stanley the fifth, no Henry, Charles, William or Harry. Got it?" Cam decided.

"Then what's left? I vote strongly against the crazy names that seem to run in your family," Jack intervened.

"Seems like we have some work to do," Cam nodded.

"We could just write down whatever we like when we find something, put it all in a box and then decide in a while," Michelle proposed.

"Good idea," Cam said and Hodgins nodded as well.

* * *

"Sweets, what happened to your face?" Hodgins asked him when the psychologist walked into his lab Friday morning.

"What do you mean?" he asked and wiped his cheeks, thinking he had something on them.

"You have something there," Hodgins pointed and grinned. "Or are you really trying to grow a beard?" he teased him.

"It's stubble. I was told it's manly and sexy. You should know, you have it as well," Sweets complained.

"Yeah, but unlike you I have some beard stubble and not just some fuzz," Hodgins laughed.

"Why does everyone think I can't grow a beard? I'm not fifteen anymore, you know?" Sweets was getting upset.

"I know, I know, sorry," Hodgins apologized still laughing. "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked him then.

"Just stopping by. Thought maybe you could use my opinion on the gutting case," the psychologist shrugged.

"Cam's in a meeting right now and I don't know much. Maybe you should talk to Perotta or Mosse," Hodgins replied and turned around so he could finally give Sweets his undivided attention. "So how are you doing? Feeling better?" he asked him, because they hadn't really talked since the night Daisy and Brennan had left.

"A bit. It comes and goes in waves. I think I've reached the stage of anger now. I mean, how could she be so selfish? We wanted to get married and everything and then she just tells me 'Hey, my career is more important than you' and leaves," Sweets ranted.

"You didn't give up your career either to go with her," Hodgins pointed out.

"Hey! You're not helping. You wouldn't have left either if it had been you and Cam," he insisted.

"In a heartbeat," Hodgins disagreed. "Speaking of heartbeats... you wanna know something really cool?" he grinned then and leaned in conspiratorially.

"What?" Sweets asked quietly, wary of what was coming.

"Cam and I... we're having a son," Hodgins said with a smile that spread over his whole face.

"That is awesome news. Congratulations," Sweets said truly happy and patted Hodgins on the back.

"Originally I wanted a girl, but now I just can't remember why. I mean... a boy… it's just... wow," the entomologist went on excitedly. "And check this out," he added and turned his monitor around, showing Sweets his new desktop background: the picture of the 3D ultrasound of the baby's face. "We have the whole video of it at home."

"When is the due date?" Sweets wanted to know.

"30th of December," Hodgins informed him. "But first we need to move Cam and Michelle completely in and get all the stuff we'll need for the baby's room when he gets here."

"Will Cam stay home after the birth?" Sweets asked.

"We haven't really talked about it yet. I'm not a big fan of daycare though," Hodgins admitted.

"Personal experience, right?" Sweets knew.

"Just one nanny too many," Hodgins nodded.

"Jack? Jack?" they heard Cam call then and were about to hurry out when she came in.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw her, worried something was wrong with the baby.

"Oh, Dr. Sweets, that's even better," Cam sighed when she saw him. "Could you please go over there and tell this idiot that it's not normal and appropriate to watch porn at work, not even during lunch hour. And then I probably need counseling so I'll get those pictures out of my head," she told him and waved her index finger around, in the direction of the office of their 'lab rat'.

"You have seen porn before," Hodgins said stunned about her reaction and didn't mind at all that there were other people in the room with them.

"Yes, but I don't need the live show when it comes to what guys are doing watching porn," she made her problem clear and blushed.

"Oh no he didn't..." Hodgins started to laugh.

"He did," Cam nodded and scrunched up her face again. "Why does he have to be so..." she wanted to ask, but couldn't find the right adjective.

"Gross?" Hodgins tried.

"Juvenile?" Sweets guessed.

"Cliché," she finally found the word she had been looking for.

"You really want me to talk to him? Because I will," Sweets vowed.

"I would really appreciate it. After the meeting today I have even more paperwork than usual," she sighed.

"Bankcroft again?" Hodgins asked.

"No, he was just a jerk as usual. 'Oh Dr. Saroyan, I can see you now cultivate the next generation. Won't that get in the way of your work?'" she repeated what he had said.

"Cam, really, if it bothers you I will talk to him," Hodgins said and pulled her closer by her waist, looking her in the eyes.

"No, it will just egg him on even more, but thanks for the offer," she declined. "I'll get you when I'm done?" she asked him then.

"Yup, I'll be here," he nodded and let her go with Sweets so they could all go back to work.

* * *

"It is really early for you to be here," Zach stated when he entered the visitors' room of the psych ward.

"Hey man, good to see you," Hodgins said happily when his friend entered, hugged him and patted him on the back.

"I always wondered why males do that. I can't say I find it pleasant," Zach commented on the light slaps on his back and made Hodgins laugh.

"Hey Zach," Cam laughed as well and hugged him without slapping him. "That better?" she grinned.

"Much," he nodded and his eyes widened slightly when he took in her appearance. "Oh," he said. "You are obviously expecting."

"Yes, we are. I'm gonna be a dad, man," Hodgins replied with a smile.

"We were surprised you didn't notice the last time we were here," Cam teased him and sat down on a chair.

"I was wondering, but I thought it would be rude to imply you're pregnant when maybe you weren't," her former colleague said.

"I really appreciate it," Cam smiled.

"We're having a son," Jack added then, not able to keep this piece of information to himself. Before Zach could reply he had taken out the ultrasound pictures from his jacket pocket and showed them to his friend.

"He looks very well structured," Zach nodded and made Hodgins snort.

"That's the best you can do?" he asked and shook his head, without really being angry.

"I don't know what you want me to say. If you bring him here once he is born I might be able to say something else," the younger man defended himself and Cam had a hard time keeping it together and not start laughing at the strange talk.

"We will bring him Zach," she said instead and pointed to the free chairs so the guys would finally sit down as well. "How are you?" she asked him then.

"I'm well. And out of riddles. Maybe if you have time you could bring me some more?" he asked Hodgins.

"Sure," he nodded. "How did it go with... what was her name again? Leslie?" Jack asked him.

"I was able to cook for her last week. Now that I am able to control my hands better and was granted access to the kitchen I cooked us lasagna and she said she liked it," Zach reported.

"Way to go, Zach," Cam complimented him and nodded approvingly.

"Hey, I cook you dinner nearly every night and you're never that excited," Hodgins complained.

"Maybe because you don't put candles and a white tablecloth on the table?" Zach suggested, although he hadn't told them before that he had done that.

"See, Zach's right. Can't remember the last time you made me a romantic dinner," Cam used the opportunity to tease him.

"That's not fair," Jack complained. "What about that evening two weeks ago?" he asked.

"I don't know what you mean," Cam looked puzzled.

"The grapes, the sorbet..." he enlightened her.

"Oh, you mean that," she nodded. "That wasn't a romantic dinner, that was your way of getting me into bed because I was angry at you for lying about the spiders. Just hiding them in another part of the lab was not what I had meant," Cam shot back. "And then to top it, you lied to me."

"It was very romantic," he defended himself and then turned to Zach, leaning towards him. "And those pregnancy hormones, man, I'm telling you..." he grinned and winced when Cam slapped the back of his head.

"This is becoming a habit. And not one I particularly like," Hodgins said and rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm sitting right here Hodgins," Cam pointed out.

"What? I witnessed only snippets of your girl-talk on the phone once and I'm still not over it," he let her know.

"You eavesdropped on my conversation. I'm sitting right here. There's a difference," Cam shook her head.

"Watching you two is like watching a tennis match," Zach told them and then shook his head. "And now I feel dizzy," he stated and made the two grin at each other.

"Have you heard anything from Angela?" Jack turned the talk to something else.

"Yes, she sends me postcards from Paris every other week. She seems to like it there," he nodded.

"You have no idea how much I wish you were able to work at the Institute again. We really need you there," Cam sighed when she thought about her new team.

"If I were out I most likely would be on the Maluku Islands with Dr. Brennan so I wouldn't be able to help you out," he stated.

"We still miss you, Zach," Cam said aloud what she had meant before.

"And I really miss work," he nodded sadly.

"Hey, once the baby is here we can just bring him to you whenever we need a babysitter," Hodgins grinned and tried to lighten the mood.

"I am not good with infants and kids don't like me," Zach stated.

"This one will like you. You'll be Uncle Zach," Hodgins tried again.

"I will not really be his uncle. We're not related," he pointed out without emotion.

"Now you're making me want to slap _you_," Hodgins said in frustration.

"Ok, guys, I'm gonna wait outside while you have your boy-talk," Cam said when silence set in. "It was good seeing you Zach. As soon as things with the new team get better, we'll be by more often again, most likely with the baby," she smiled, got up and hugged him for a moment.

"You're waiting outside?" Jack asked her.

"No, I'll be at the diner across the street, baby wants some chocolate. Take your time," she smiled and left with another wave in Zach's direction.

* * *

"You have the measurements?" Cam asked Jack as they stepped into the furniture store.

"Yup," he nodded and wrapped one arm around her middle. "We need a bed, at least one additional closet, maybe a rug or something and the furniture for the nursery, right?" he asked, hoping he hadn't forgotten anything.

"That seems to be it for now," Cam agreed.

"Ok, bedroom furniture is to the right," he said when he saw the sign.

"Anything you absolutely don't want?" she wanted to know, thinking it might be wise to know what was a no go before they started looking.

"I'm not too fond of those metal beds with the squiggly headboards," he replied as they walked past the dining room furniture. "And it needs to be big," he added with a naughty grin.

"Agreed," she chuckled. "I don't want it to be too dark," she added another criterion.

"Ooh, look, cribs," he gushed and pointed to the right where the nursery furniture was set up.

"I was thinking maybe we could get one of those bassinets as well for our bedroom. We wouldn't have to walk as far during the night," Cam told him and followed him to the furniture.

"Nothing too girly with ruffles and lace," he immediately said.

"Do I have that anywhere in my apartment?" she asked him with raised eyebrows.

"No, but you never know what will happen once the nesting instinct sets in," he teased her.

"No ruffles for our son," she said with a nod and he kissed her in agreement."Oh, look, that one is actually really nice. Maybe if we find a bed in the same wood?" Cam pointed to a bassinet at the other end of the set up room.

"Espresso Cariboo Bassinet," Cam read aloud.

"Eco-friendly and meets or exceeds all US government safety standards," he went on. "I like it," he agreed.

"So shall we take it? Just like that?" Cam asked, thinking that this was way too easy.

"Why not? We agreed that we wouldn't pay much attention to prices, since we're selling all of your furniture, so let's just take it," he shrugged.

"Ok," she laughed, still surprised how easy this had been.

"One down, lots more to go," Hodgins said after another look on his list and wrote down the name and the number of the bassinet for later.

"Look, there's the crib that goes with it," Cam said and took his hand to lead him over to it.

"I like the form, but don't you think the wood is too dark? Imagine all the furniture in the room this dark," he gave her something to consider.

"They say here that it is also available in 'attractive teak', whatever that means," Cam wondered.

"That's the same as the changing table here," Hodgins knew and showed it to her.

"If we take the crib in teak and then take this changing table and the dresser over there it would all match," Cam said and tried to picture it. "I think we should try to find blue and green striped wallpaper for the room. Together with the new floor and the furniture I think it would look good and we wouldn't have to re-decorate the whole room once he's three and decides bears are for babies," she added with a knowing smile.

"You had bears?" Hodgins laughed.

"No, Michelle had elephants in pink tutus and wanted them gone after the older kids in kindergarten had told her that they're only for babies," Cam laughed at the memory.

"So her father had to re-decorate?" Hodgins asked, still grinning.

"Yes, problem was, once she actually went to school her best friend there was a ballet dancer, so you can imagine what was suddenly 'in' again and which wallpaper Andrew had to put up," she chuckled.

"I'm just glad she has everything picked out for her new room by now," Hodgins added while he wrote down the product numbers of the other furniture.

"I actually really like what she picked out, which kind of surprised me. When she first told me she wanted one wall painted burgundy I was expecting the worst," Cam said appreciatively.

"Last night the guys set up the rest of her furniture and it really looks great. Now we just have to keep her out of there until tomorrow, so we can surprise her with it," Jack informed Cam.

"You know she'll move in the second you show her the room," Cam warned him when they made their way over to the adult bedroom furniture.

"I don't mind her staying at my place alone. You, however, will stay away as long as the paint fumes are still in the air," Jack replied and made her roll her eyes.

"There's the overprotective hovering again," she commented.

"Then let's pick out furniture otherwise you'll never move in. I already doubt that they'll be able to deliver it all until next weekend," he said and pulled her towards the first bed he saw.

"What do you think about this one?" he grinned pointing with his open hand to the bed that had a golden frame and golden leaves that decorated the four pillars which framed the bed. It looked like Louis XIV might have slept in it.

"That is about the most hideous thing I have ever seen," she told him.

"Good, I agree," he chuckled and pulled her to the next one.

* * *

"Where should I put your two... ten… fifteen... approximately hundred pair of shoes?" Hodgins asked Cam from her built in closet that was used for shoe storage only. It was Sunday and seemed like the only day they actually had time to pack her things before the planned move the next weekend.

"Leave it, I'll do it or you'll ruin my system and I'll never find anything ever again," she waved him off and he stuck his head out of the closet.

"You need a ladder to get them all," he pointed out, grasping the door frame for balance as he bent farther back so he could see her in her study where she was packing photos into boxes.

"I know, that's how I put them up on those shelves," Cam rolled her eyes at him. He sighed quietly and knew he couldn't win this from a distance. Slowly he walked over to her, his sneakers squeaking slightly on the wooden floor. When he reached her, he put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him. She laid the frame she held in her hands down on the desk and looked at him.

"Cam..." he started and pulled on the seam of her blue shirt, his fingers brushing softly against the skin of her stomach that he exposed between her jeans, where the first button had to remain open, and the loosely fitting light blue tank top.

"Jack," she replied in the same tone and slung her arms around his neck, her eyes twinkling playfully.

"You're not climbing a ladder," he told her and shook his head no.

"One day you'll lock me in a padded room until after the baby is born," she smiled at him.

"Not a bad idea, crazy," he teased her and chuckled when her gaze expressed what she wasn't saying with words. "What? The words mood swings ring a bell?" he went on.

"You said yourself that I'm not that bad," Cam protested, knowing herself that besides some minor incidents she really had not caused that much trouble yet.

"I said that I rather enjoy some of your moods, especially for the last two or three weeks," Hodgins grinned.

"Get your mind out of the bedroom, Hodgins," she only rolled her eyes, but grinned when he kissed her longingly. "We don't have time for that now. We need to pack, otherwise the couple who rented the apartment won't be able to move in on time. And they already terminated their former lease," she said when she broke the kiss.

"Ok, then where do I put the shoes now?" he asked again.

"The shoe boxes are up in the attic. You have to get them down and then sort the shoes into the belonging box, then put the boxes into a larger box and we can move them," she let him know and turned back to the pictures.

"Please tell me you're kidding," he groaned.

"No, why?" she asked him innocently, knowing that she might be a tad extreme when it came to her shoes.

"How about this," he started with a sigh, "I get the boxes from the attic and get down the shoes for you. You sort them into the boxes, put them in a bigger box and I carry them to the car?" he suggested.

"Fine, but while I sort shoes you'll have to wrap picture frames and pack the clothes in my bedroom that I don't need during the coming week," she agreed.

"Deal," he nodded, grabbed his set of keys from the dresser and made his way up to the attic. He had just left when Cam's phone rang.

"Saroyan," she replied.

"Hello Camille," she heard a familiar voice, although the quality of the connection was more than crappy.

"Seeley!" she squealed happily and let herself fall into her desk chair.

"I got three calls this weekend and I thought I'd check in on one of my oldest friends," he laughed.

"I hope you mean it the way I want you to mean it," she laughed with him and looked at the picture she had just started to wrap. It was a shot that had been taken at her father's sixtieth birthday and Booth was posing with her and her dad for the camera, pretending to be her boyfriend.

"Of course," he assured her. "So, I hear Hodgins' house is like the Walt Disney castle, at least according to Parker," Booth told her.

"He seemed to like it there, yes. I think the four wheelers especially made an impression," Cam nodded.

"Please tell me he wore a helmet," Booth begged.

"He did and safety clothes, don't worry. He didn't fall off though, just nearly drove it into the pond," Cam laughed at the memory.

"And I might be mistaken, because the quality of the phone line sucks, but I think he said something about you having a funny argument over a name for the baby? Something you want to tell me?" he finally came to the reason for his call. He had been curious ever since Parker had let that detail slip.

"Well, it seems like by the time you're back you'll officially be Uncle Seeley to little Hodgins junior," Cam admitted with a smile in her voice.

"I knew it!" Booth exclaimed. "Congratulations, Cam! I'm really happy for you," Booth said.

"We're really excited, Seeley. And I still can't believe I'm going to be a mom- I mean, besides to Michelle that is," Cam admitted.

"You're going to be a great mom, Camille. That kid is really lucky."

"Thank you, Booth," Cam said touched.

"Ok, listen I've gotta go and get back. You take care of yourself and the little one. Say hi to him from Uncle Seeley," he announced the end of their conversation.

"I will. And you take care yourself. I'm sure he wants to get to know his uncle in one piece, alive and without holes in him," she said goodbye and then hung up.

"Hey lazy, I carry the stuff and you nap?" Hodgins teased her when he came back, carrying one big box with the smaller ones for the shoes in it.

"I wasn't napping. Booth called," she corrected him and stood up again.

"From Afghanistan? Is he alright?" Hodgins immediately worried that something had happened to the agent.

"He seemed fine. Parker spilled our news during his latest call and Booth wanted to know if he had understood him right," Cam said.

"And what did he say when you confirmed it?"

"He was happy for us," Cam just replied.

"I wish we had an address or a phone number for Angela so we could reach her. I feel bad for not telling her," Hodgins sighed, remembering that his ex-girlfriend still didn't know about the fact that he was becoming a father.

"Jack, she chose not to give us anything. Besides the postcards we haven't heard from her since she left. And maybe it's better," Cam pointed out. "She left to have some distance. If we call her now and tell her we're expecting it would hurt her."

"I'm just afraid that once she comes back and is confronted with baby it will hurt her even more," he worried.

"We could always call Brennan and ask her if she has an address or a phone number," Cam replied calmly, showing him the only way to get in touch with Angela.

"No," he decided with a deep sigh. "She decides when she wants contact and if it is once she gets back, then I can't change it."

"Ok," Cam just nodded, accepting his decision.

"Thank you," he said softly and kissed her, letting his lips linger on hers. "And now I'll get the tons of shoes down," he added and walked back into the closet to start his task.

* * *

Monday morning Hodgins found himself driving up to the theater rehearsal house with Sweets. The psychologist had requested to see the scene where they had found the body and the organs so he could get a clearer picture.

"I see you already put on your rubber boots- you'll need them," Hodgins said. He had spent two full days in the building and it still gave him the creeps thinking about going in there. He was fine with the rats and insects. He didn't mind the mold or the stinking water in the basement. But something about the plastic body parts being mixed in with real ones, the black walls, low ceilings, caskets and weird atmosphere freaked him out. He had made sure that the spotlights were still there, because he simply refused to enter the building with only Sweets as his backup and a flashlight.

"I'm really intrigued by this. From what I heard the interior sure is unique," Sweets replied and actually looked excited to go in.

"That's one way to put it. Damn creepy would be another," he replied and led them in. "Pay attention, water is coming down here," he warned Sweets just in time, so the stinking water wouldn't drip on his head.

"Everything is black in here," the younger man said. "And those shelves don't help the atmosphere," he went on and warily looked at the body parts of the prop dolls.

"Now comes another strange thing. Stay in the middle of the elevator, otherwise you'll get killed by the grids that fall down to the sides," Hodgins warned him and then pressed the button so they could ride up to the fourth story and start their tour there.

"Whoa! You weren't joking," Sweets exclaimed when the grids came down.

" Welcome to the fourth story of the house of horror. I hope you'll have a very unpleasant stay," the entomologist said like one of those announcers at the haunted house at fairs.

"Ok, you were not exaggerating," Sweets admitted as he looked around and suddenly didn't seem to find it all that exciting anymore.

"Over there we found the maggots raining down," Hodgins pointed to one shelf as he plugged in the lamps and the room lit up.

"From what Cam told me someone bashed the guys head in and then sliced him open, took out some organs and put them on a shelf and then dumped him on the stage. When the water entered he was washed into the ventilation system and when it sank he landed down in the basement," Sweets tried to get the facts right.

"Yeah, the water entered when a pipe burst up here and flooded the room, then the water made its way further down, finally staying in the basement," Hodgins nodded. "When we were here last week we couldn't get into the rooms that were used as changing rooms before. We would have needed divers and the FBI decided that it was too expensive to go through all that trouble because of a single body," Hodgins summed it up with some resentment in his voice. He knew that Booth would have brought in the divers.

"Those rooms are over there?" Sweets asked.

"Yes, we could check them out now," Hodgins replied, not too fond of the idea himself.

"I don't think the light will be of any use over there, right?" Sweets asked and Hodgins only shook his head and took his flashlight out of his pocket, which he had brought for a worst case scenario.

"I'll stay right behind you," Sweets vowed and made Hodgins snort.

"My hero," he said sarcastically. Walking down the still damp and narrow hallway they found several doors to their right. Most of them were open and the rooms showed the damages the water had done to them. Clothes, requisites and furniture were on the ground with layers of mud or sand over them. Shelves had toppled over, chairs had broken and what seemed like manuscripts lay wrinkled in the corners.

The second to last door on the right was the only one closed. While Sweets wanted to walk past it, Hodgins stopped and made the younger man crash into his back.

"Sorry," Sweets apologized.

"Do you smell that?" Hodgins asked him and sniffed again.

"You mean that... sweet, nauseating stench? Wasn't that hanging in the whole building?" the psychologist replied.

"Before it was mold, water and dirt. This is different," Hodgins knew and tried to open the door, after putting on rubber gloves. "It's locked," he stated then.

"Maybe we should leave it that way," Sweets said, sounding scared.

"Stand back, I'm going in," Hodgins replied, took a few steps back and then kicked the door in. The wood splintered and let them get a glimpse inside.

"Oh my god," Sweets exclaimed and pressed his hand to his nose and mouth when the smell became even stronger.

"I knew it," Hodgins said and didn't seem as affected. He shone his flashlight inside and in the last puddle on the ground he found the naked body of what once had been a woman- and now was an obscenely swollen and decomposed body with maggots crawling all over the place and through the strangely well preserved long blonde hair of the dead. "Ok, I think I'll give Cam a call," he commented dryly.

"Can we please do that outside? I think I'm gonna be sick," Sweets groaned, not used to the smell of death. The only bodies he had seen were always in Cam's lab with the drain and ventilation, which meant barely any corpse smell. This was nasty.

"Yeah, let's get you out. If you throw up in here it will attract the rats," Hodgins replied and led them to the elevator and then back outside. While Sweets took deep breaths of fresh air and tried to get the smell out of his mind, Hodgins dialed Cam's number.

"Hey, you survived the house of horror?" she teased him when she picked up.

"We did. But you need to call Perotta and Mosse and then get over here. We found a second body," he told her and leaned against the car, knowing it would take at least half an hour for them to get to there.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Frog and scorpion**

"You ok?" he asked her worriedly as she sat down in slow motion, a hand pressed against the small of her back.

"My back hurts," Cam groaned in reply and leaned over, resting her arms against her thighs.

"Isn't it a bit early for you to have back spasms?" Hodgins wondered and wrinkled his forehead.

"Maybe I should start yoga or Pilates and stop running. It's not especially back friendly," she replied.

"And you should stop carrying boxes whenever I leave the house. Now lie down on your stomach, I'm giving you a massage," he told her and pointed to the couch.

"We should take a shower first, we're all sweaty," she protested. They had just come back from their morning run, which they had gone on after breakfast.

"Together?" he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

"My back hurts too much to even think about that," she rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"How about I run you a bubble bath and then give you the back rub?" he proposed.

"Sounds like heaven," she smiled and groaned a second later when he helped her off the couch. "You gonna soak with me or you'll take a shower?" she wanted to know then.

"If you'll have me I don't mind smelling like your girlish bubble bath," Hodgins replied and led her up the stairs.

"As if you ever mind smelling girlish. At the crime scene three weeks ago you stole my deodorant and smelled like vanilla all day," she reminded him with a smile.

"Better than the dead corpse smell I had in my nostrils for the rest of the day," he remembered and shuddered as they entered their bathroom.

"Yeah, being dead in a locked room where not even rats get in, that's not too good for the smell," Cam nodded and untied her jogging pants before she pulled them down and stepped out of them. They had both left their shoes in front of the door, because they had been running through the woods that morning and mud was all over their shoes. Her shirt followed and she rubbed the impressions left on her skin once she had unclasped her bra and taken it off.

"They are still getting bigger," Hodgins grinned at her from the bathtub, where he had started the water and was pouring bubble bath into it.

"And you just have to point that out every day," she muttered, still rubbing at the mark underneath her right arm. Her bras were too small already and she knew it, still she couldn't accept the fact that not only were her breasts and stomach getting bigger, but she had started to gain weight and therefore refused to buy new bras.

"God, you're beautiful," he sighed instead of arguing back, sat down on the edge of the tub and held out his hands to her. She rolled her eyes again, but took his hands and stepped towards him.

"I look like I swallowed a soccer ball," she said once she stood in front of him, but smiled.

"We both know that you love being pregnant as much as I love that you're pregnant," he chuckled and then pressed his lips to her swollen belly. "Hey son, you're ok in there?" he started talking to their unborn child. He leaned his cheek against her stomach, waiting for a kick. For about a week now he was able to feel the kicks and punches of his son and if he had a say in it he wouldn't do anything else all day.

"I think the run lulled him to sleep," Cam grinned and ran her fingers through his hair.

"No kicks for Daddy," he sighed disappointedly, placed another kiss on her skin and then stood up. "Check if the water is alright," he told her and started taking off his own clothes.

"Yes, I think it's good. You might think it's too hot though," she knew after she had dipped her toes into it. Then she carefully stepped into the hot water and sighed when she sank into it.

"I know you like the water boiling," Hodgins replied and then got in the tub behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer against his body. "Can you tilt your head, please," he requested and gently pushed her head so her chin was resting against her chest.

"God, that's good," Cam sighed when he started massaging her neck with his thumbs.

"Preview of what's to come," he smiled.

"Oh, junior is up," Cam said and rubbed her ribs.

"He kicked?"

"No, he tickled me under my ribs," she replied. "Now he kicked," she added when she felt her baby move.

"Where?" Jack asked and placed both hands on her stomach.

"No-ho, don't stop," Cam whined when he stopped the neck massage and brought his hands down. Jack just chuckled and started massaging her neck with one hand again, while he kept the other on her belly.

"I'm going to set up the bassinet and the crib tomorrow," he told her.

"They delivered it already?" she asked surprised, because she hadn't been aware that the furniture was already in the house.

"Last night while you were at the meeting," he nodded.

"You think this will work here?" Jack asked her, slowly rubbing the massage oil between his palms to warm it up.

"Why shouldn't it?" she replied and looked over her shoulder at him, already halfway on the bed.

"I'm just a bit afraid we'll crush junior this way," he pointed out, knowing that for the massage she was supposed to lie on her stomach.

"With all these blankets it's soft enough for me to sink in just far enough," she laughed and carefully lay down, testing if her theory was correct.

"And?" he still wasn't too convinced.

"Comfortable," she replied, tilting her head to the side. "Now get in here and get to work," she ordered, which made him smile.

"Wow, you really are tense. Maybe you should stay home from work for a few days. Seems like your back doesn't like you bending over an autopsy table all day long while you're carrying another human being inside of you," Hodgins said when he felt her tense muscles and knots under his fingers.

"I can't. Two more soldiers in my storage since yesterday," she sighed tiredly.

"Taliban in Afghanistan?" he asked her.

"No, friendly fire in Iraq," she clarified and moaned a second later when he dug his thumbs into a particularly sore spot.

"Sorry," he apologized, but put even more pressure on it, causing her to flinch. "Any more brain damage?" he asked her, knowing she had found some abnormalities in the brains of other dead soldiers she had autopsied.

"Will be hard to tell since one of them has a headshot and the other came in pieces," Cam replied and closed her eyes again, hoping the pain would lessen in a second.

"Still, don't overdo it," he insisted.

"I'm only 25 weeks along, still another 15 to go, so I won't get smaller and I can't just stop working," she disagreed.

"Have you at least thought about when you will go on maternity leave?" Hodgins knew that she didn't like talking about it, simply because she didn't want to think about it, but he also knew that if he didn't pressure her on this and, in the end, put his foot down, she would work until the last second.

"Christmas?" she replied and opened one eye, saw him shaking his head in disapproval.

"At least middle of December or I'll have you fired," he decided then and ignored the snort she made in reply.

"Ah, I have to turn on my side. He's kicking my bladder in revenge for me lying on top of him," she groaned and slowly rolled onto her right side, so her back was now pressed to Hodgins knees.

"Since we were just talking about decisions, we still need a name. Have you already peeked in the box?" He waited until she had adjusted and then resumed the massage, concentrating on her shoulder.

"No, but by the way you phrased the question I assume you have," Cam knew.

"Why would you say that? We decided we would look into it together with Michelle. That would be cheating," he defended himself halfheartedly.

"You know the frog and the scorpion?" she asked and raised her eyebrows. "You just can't help it," she added in a stage whisper and smiled when she saw his shocked face, that slowly reddened with embarrassment upon having been caught.

"Ok, fine, I did peek, but I still think we should decide on a name soon, otherwise we'll get so used to calling him ''Junior' all the time, that we'll end up naming him Junior," Hodgins admitted in defeat.

"Yeah, you're right. If he comes early he should have a name," she agreed.

"If he came now, he'd be really early. You're having contractions?" he worried instantly.

"No, we're fine. I guess I'm just a bit freaked out to get the results of the glucose screening test on Monday. I don't think I'll be able to survive this pregnancy on a diet without chocolate," she finally spit out what was bothering her.

"Your blood sugar levels are fine so far, why would something suddenly be wrong? With all the sugar you eat all day, you'd already be in a sugar induced coma if there were a problem," he smiled while he tried to reassure her.

"You're right," she smiled back at him and it widened even more when she felt him coming closer and then kissing her softly.

"Cam? Dr. H? Are you decent and can I come in?" Michelle's voice from the door interrupted them.

"Just a second," Cam called back and slowly sat up. "Can you hand me the towel?" she asked Hodgins, who had already grabbed it. She slung it around her upper body, fastening it on her chest and made sure her belly that was exposed over her sweatpants was covered.

"Come in," Hodgins called when she had covered herself.

"Ew, why does the room smell like an old catholic church?" Michelle scrunched up her face when she stepped into their bedroom.

"It's the sandalwood massage oil," Hodgins informed her while Cam only rolled her eyes.

"So you actually weren't decent," Michelle grinned.

"He was giving me a massage, because my back is killing me. What do you want?" Cam snapped at her a bit harsher than she usually did. Michelle was used to these little outbursts by now and just grinned even wider.

"Then you shouldn't run, it's not good for the back anyway," she had the guts to point out and Cam's look darkened even more. "But on a more cheerful note, while you two were out ruining your backs, I bought this," she went on and handed Cam the bag she held.

"Oh no, no way," Cam exclaimed once she had looked inside.

"Come on, it'll be so cool," Michelle insisted.

"What's that?" Hodgins, who had just come out of the bathroom again where he had washed his hands, asked.

"Body paints so we can paint on Cam's stomach and then take funny pictures of it," Michelle told him when Cam remained silent.

"I like the idea," he nodded with a smile.

"Didn't you two just hear me say 'No'?" Cam asked them and stood up from the bed so she would at least be the same height as them. Maybe they would take her serious then.

"Spoil sport," Michelle pouted. "You liked it when I told you Paris had pictures like that of herself."

"You mean of her mother's pregnant belly," Cam muttered.

"I bought the same blue and green tones as the wallpaper. It would match," Michelle tried to change Cam's mind.

"No," her legal guardian insisted.

"Can you give us a second?" Hodgins asked Michelle.

"You don't need to send her out of the room so you can sweet talk me into giving in. No colors on my stomach," Cam now turned on him.

"Ok, then let's peek inside the name box instead," he offered.

"Fine, we can do that. After I wash the oil off my back," Cam grumbled, went into the bathroom and pointedly closed and locked the door behind her.

"She's in pain. Give me a few days and we'll talk about the paint again," Hodgins told Michelle with a wink and the two conspiratorially bumped fists.

"It was your idea after all," Michelle grinned.

"Don't tell her," he laughed, knowing he would never live it down if Cam knew that this cheesy idea came from him- not for the next 15 weeks at least.

* * *

"Ok, next," Hodgins said after he was done writing down the last name they had pulled out of the box.

"Caleb," Cam read aloud and put the piece of paper down.

"Next," Hodgins said once again.

"Joel," Cam went on and opened the other pieces as well, one after the other. "Samuel, Joshua, Noah, Eli, Benjamin and Sebastian," she finished. "Not what I expected," she added then with a smile.

"Why? What did you expect?" Michelle asked curiously.

"More craziness. More Neos and Edwards or Jacobs," Cam laughed knowingly.

"Jacob was in," Hodgins laughed as well, looking down at the list. "But that one is out, since Cam and I agreed we're team Edward," he said with a cheeky smile.

"Oh, come on, she so belongs with Jacob. Edward is boring," Michelle shot back. They all knew which team she was on, since she hadn't stopped talking about it after she had read the books and had made them watch the movies as well. All three were also aware that while Cam pretended not to care, she was just as hooked on the romance novel as her daughter. In her opinion the sappy love story made up for the lack of steam and passion and she would never admit it, but she had probably never cried as much reading a book, except for "The lovely Bones", which had her reduced to a sobbing mess from start to end. While reading it two weeks ago, Jack had taken it from her at one point, saying that it wasn't wise of her to read such a sad book while she was pregnant and hormonal. Only the threat of bodily harm had made him give it back.

"Hey, are we here to discuss werewolves versus vampires or to pick a name?" Cam interrupted them, but laughed at the fact that her boyfriend was discussing teenage romance novels/movies with her daughter.

"Ok, so Jacob is out. And I don't like Caleb or Eli," Hodgins went back on topic.

"Not fond of Hebrew names?" Cam raised her eyebrows.

"Caleb is overused and I had a bully at school who was named Eli," he told her.

"I don't like Benjamin or Sebastian," Michelle joined the name talk again and crossed the two off the list just as Hodgins had done with the names he disliked.

"Why?" he exclaimed and made it obvious that the suggestions had come from him.

"I don't like Joel," Cam said when it was her turn.

"So we're down to Samuel, Joshua and Noah," Hodgins said when he looked down at the name list in front of them once again.

"We could combine two. One first name, one middle name," Michelle suggested. "Noah Samuel... sounds strange," she thought out loud. "Samuel Noah sounds just as weird..." she went on and thoughtfully looked down at the list, unaware that Cam had moved closer to Jack and was whispering in his ear. He listened intently, smiled and kissed her in agreement. "Hey, are you even listening?" Michelle asked them when she saw them make out and grin at each other.

"Name talk is over. We have a winner," Hodgins announced.

"Which one?" Michelle asked surprised.

"How about we tell you once he's born. That way you'll at least be a bit surprised and we spare ourselves further discussions," Cam grinned at her.

"Is the name you picked even on the list?" Michelle asked suspiciously.

"Maybe," Hodgins laughed and pulled Cam into him, after wrapping his arms around her.

"Not fair! That's totally against our agreement," Michelle exclaimed and started to pout.

"How about you get those body paints and you and Jack go crazy. It was his idea after all," Cam offered and made Hodgins gasp.

"How did you know?" he gaped at her.

"Frog and Scorpion?" Cam asked him for the second time that day and made Michelle giggle.

"He just can't help it," Michelle knew the conclusion of the story and went up to get the body paint.

* * *

"Dr. Sweets, you look... different," Michelle commented when she let him into the house the next afternoon.

"I thought I could try a new look," he said and stroked over the beard he seemed to be trying to grow. His hair looked suspiciously uncut as well and his clothes had nothing to do with the suits he usually wore. Over a white T-shirt he wore a black leather vest. His feet were stuck in chucks and the black jeans were too long and the seams around his ankles already ripped from walking on them.

"Cam told me you, you are just a part time psychologist now," Michelle nodded knowingly, because she had already been told that Sweets had obviously lost his mind after Daisy had left. "Speaking of nut jobs," she went on, "the two are upstairs in the nursery. Turn left and then it's the last door on the right," she instructed and went into the living room herself to continue working on the picture frame she was making with the pictures of Cam's painted stomach.

"Dr. Sweets, you really came," Cam said surprised when she saw him entering.

"Of course. I told you I would help you," he shrugged modestly.

"Thank God you're here," Hodgins groaned from some piece of furniture he was lying under. "She insists on helping and won't listen," he told him.

"He told me to sit in the rocking chair to test if it's stable, but I know it's just his way of getting me to sit still and let him build the changing table the wrong way," Cam told Sweets her version of the story.

"Let me help you," Sweets said to Hodgins when he saw one of the boards slip and slide towards Hodgins. He caught it at the last second and made Hodgins sigh once again in relief.

"And I'm supposed to just sit here while you nearly kill yourself?" Cam asked him. "I didn't plan on raising this kid by myself."

"You won't have to, baby," Hodgins told her and got up from the floor to get another screwdriver. On the way back he stole a kiss from her. "Why don't you go and help Michelle?" he suggested.

"At least you can't send me into the kitchen to cook you men a meal. You wouldn't survive it," Cam muttered and pushed herself out of the comfortable rocking chair.

"No, I won't. All I want from you is for you to look out for yourself and our son," he stressed and wrapped an arm sideways around her waist. "Ok?" he asked and placed a kiss on her temple.

"Ok," she nodded and pecked him on the lips before she left the boys alone with the furniture.

* * *

"Ok, ok, keep your eyes closed," Hodgins instructed excitedly as he led Cam into the now furnished nursery and Sweets led Michelle in.

"Don't you think you're making a really big deal out of setting up three pieces of furniture?" Michelle asked them slightly unnerved, while she tried to fend Sweets' hands off her eyes so she could see where she was going.

"Spoilsport," Hodgins replied teasingly and stopped Cam in the middle of the room. "You're ready?" he asked her.

"I think we both are," Michelle answered in her place and made Hodgins huff in annoyance.

"Ok, then: open your eyes," he finally said and took his hands off Cam's eyes. When she opened them she saw the wooden floor that had already been laid down and the blue, white and green striped wallpaper that Hodgins had put on the walls a week before. Now underneath the window the changing table was set up, a cover already on it that matched the green and blue color concept of the room. The rocking chair in which Cam had sat before was now standing in the left corner of the room, while the crib was set up in the right corner. A large rug was placed in the middle of the room with a blanket already spread out. A Shelf with wooden baby toys, stuffed animals and all kinds of books was standing on the same wall as the bed and on the other side a closet completed the ensemble. All of the furniture was made from the same wood, and even the curtains and the rug matched the colors of the wallpaper and sheets on the bed.

"Wow, you really did a great job," Cam complimented once she had taken it all in. "Thank you." She kissed Jack softly before she went to hug Sweets.

"You're welcome," Sweets grinned when she pecked his cheek.

"Where can I put the picture frame?" Michelle asked them and looked around.

"Over the bed?" Cam suggested.

"You have nails and a hammer?" Michelle asked.

"No, no nails. I can hang it up later," Hodgins told her and took the picture frame from her. "It's really nice," he said appreciatively when he saw what Michelle had done. In the same colors as the room she had decorated the picture frame with four pictures that showed Cam's progressing pregnancy, with only one picture of her painted stomach. The rest were from the beginning until now and the fifth and sixth slots were still empty so they could add another picture of the pregnancy and a picture of the baby once he was born.

"Glad you like it," Michelle shrugged, but blushed a bit upon hearing the compliment.

" I have to say I like it as well," Cam agreed and hugged Michelle to her with one arm. "You're staying for dinner Sweets?" she turned to the younger man in the room.

"If you don't mind," he shrugged.

"What's for dinner anyway?" Michelle asked and raised her eyebrow, already suspecting that the answer wouldn't be to her liking.

"Whatever you're making," Hodgins grinned at her, making it obvious that he wasn't going to cook. "Because I am going to take a shower now," he added.

"Then you're helping me," Michelle turned her head to look at Cam who still had one arm slung around her daughter's shoulders.

"I need a chocolate milkshake and a pee break first, not necessarily in that order," Cam replied, basically telling her that she wouldn't help either.

"Then order out, 'cause I'm not cooking alone," Michelle decided and held her chin high in determination.

"I'll help you," Sweets jumped in good heartedly.

"See, Sweets will help you," Hodgins laughed, satisfied with the outcome.

"Don't be too happy. It'll be your turn tomorrow," the teen grinned back and then left the room, pulling Sweets out with her by his shirt sleeve.

* * *

"I really can't believe you have a real Steinway piano just standing around in your living room. I always dreamed of just touching one," Sweets gushed and dreamily stroked over the wooden surface of the instrument again. He had found it after dinner, when they had gone to the big living room, the one with the TV in it - the one they actually used.

"You can play if you want." The owner of the expensive instrument wasn't impressed. "I can barely play For Elise."

"Really? Awesome!" Sweets exclaimed and had opened the piano before Hodgins could think about it again. Then he sat down, stroked over some of the keys and then pressed some. Suddenly his fingers flew over the keys and played something that sounded strangely familiar.

"I know that from somewhere," Cam mused out loud and Hodgins nodded.

"Yeah, me too. But I can't quite place it."

"Never heard it," Michelle shook her head. Suddenly the quick erratic melody stopped and Sweets hit accords.

"That's Baba O'Riley," Cam said with a smile, proud that she had figured it out.

"Very good, Cam," Sweets complimented before he sang the first few words of the lyrics with the melody he played.

"That's the CSI: New York theme," Michelle knew and made the adults groan.

"A total classic and you know it because of some scientifically incorrect TV show," Hodgins snorted.

"I like the show," Michelle protested and looked to Cam, seeking help.

"Sorry, but I don't need more dead bodies a day than I have at the lab, not even on TV," Cam held her hands up.

"You know this one?" Sweets interrupted their spat and played a slower song.

"Now I've heard there was a secret chord that David played, and it pleased the Lord, but you don't really care for music, do you?" Hodgins sang along with more enthusiasm than correctness.

"Hallelujah," Cam smiled. "John Cale."

"I actually think someone else wrote the song and Cale just covered it," Hodgins knew and then quieted when Sweets sang the first verse and the refrain in-tune, unlike he'd done.

"That's pretty," Michelle sighed quietly when the psychologist had stopped singing and just kept playing the melody. "But can't you play something that I might know as well?" she requested. Sweets stopped playing and thought for a moment. When he started playing again it took Michelle about three seconds until she yelled out the answer. "Love the way you lie - Eminem feat Rihanna." She grinned and held her hands up, showing the victory sign.

"Keep it down Missy, just because you knew one song," Cam rolled her eyes while Hodgins made the 'loser' sign in front of Michelle's forehead.

"You want a real contest? Ok, I'm game," Michelle challenged them.

"Sweets?" Cam asked their private musician if he even wanted to play along.

"I'm in, this is fun," he nodded.

"Let me get the snacks and the drinks, then we can start. I'll bring you beer," Hodgins said and got up.

"I don't want..." Sweets started to protest against the beer, but Hodgins was already gone. Seems even as their personal jukebox he still didn't have many rights.

* * *

When Cam walked into her office the next Wednesday she found her phone blinking rapidly in red, signaling that she had messages on her answering machine. She first pulled open the blinds though and switched on the lights. Sometimes, like today when it was a beautiful September day outside, it annoyed her that her office didn't have windows to open. Still it was better than most autopsy rooms that were hidden in the basements of police stations or hospitals. Next she took off her suit jacket, suddenly feeling hot and placed it on the backrest of her chair. Pulling at the hem of her shirt she made sure that it covered everything it was supposed to cover, even if she was showing a bit more cleavage than usual. She would have to change into lab clothes before the next autopsy anyway and the dead bodies in the freezer sure wouldn't mind the look.

Starting her computer she next pressed the button on her phone to listen to the message she had received.

"Hey Camille, it's me, Booth. One of the guys I trained got caught in a crossfire last night and didn't make it. I don't know why... I don't know why he wasn't able to shoot or duck for cover. Maybe he wasn't ready or ... I don't know," she heard Booth's sad voice. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I made a deal with some guys in Washington and they agreed that you could do the autopsy. He'll be flown out with the next flight to D.C. which will be Sunday, meaning he'll arrive at the Jeffersonian sometime Monday. I'll make sure you get the incident report in your email. Hope you're ok and everything is fine with little Hodgins. I have to go. Bye Cam, take care." The message ended with the obligatory beep and Cam sank into her chair with a heavy sigh.

"You're never gonna join the army, baby, you hear me?" she said quietly and stroked over her rounded belly. "Not that your father would ever let you with all the conspiracies going on there," she added and then turned her attention to her computer to check her emails. She found the report Booth had talked about on the phone. She quickly looked over it, scanning the info so she could prepare herself for what would come her way next Monday.

"Saroyan," she answered the phone that rang just as she had read the report and closed the file.

"Dr. Saroyan, it's Caroline," the attorney's distinctive voice came through the speaker.

"Hello Miss Julian," Cam replied with a smile. No matter what the attorney said it somehow nearly always amused her, simply by the way she said it.

"I'm glad you're still working, because I heard you got yourself knocked up," the attorney commented not really politically correct.

"It wasn't so much myself as Hodgins, but yes I'm pregnant and still working," Cam replied, quietly chuckling.

"Well, good, honey, because I need a damn good pathologist to take a look at a case for me and then testify on behalf of my client," Caroline came to the point of her call.

"Tell me what it is about and I'll take a look at it. I can't promise though that I'll be able to testify for your client afterwards," Cam grinned.

"We'll see about that. How fast can you look at the old autopsy files?" she wanted to know.

"Depends on how long the autopsy report is and what exactly happened," the coroner shrugged.

"Good, then I'll expect the result before the weekend. I'll send over the ten boxes with paperwork. Bye doll and congrats on the pregnancy," Caroline said as quickly as she could and hung up before Cam could protest.

"Did you hear that? Seems like brain damage isn't limited to veterans," Cam grumbled, not realizing that she was once again talking to her unborn son - which was an improvement considering that years of working alone on dead bodies usually made her talk to herself or no one at all.

* * *

"Cam, are you already done with the woman, so I can start extracting the particulates from her wounds and the huge gash in her stomach?" Hodgins asked when he hurried into her office later the next day.

"No, I just finished on the police officer, our Jane Doe is still in the freezer," she replied without looking up from her PC screen.

"And the soldier?" he pressed.

"No, just the police guy. I've been trying to sort through these ten boxes of paper crap that Caroline sent over," she told him angrily and did look at him this time.

"You want me to duck and run or help you later when I'm done with my stuff?" he asked, unsure about which would be the wiser decision.

"I need to finish the report first so I can send it off and the funeral home can pick up the body. Then I'll get back to this," she said and pointed to the boxes that were stacked all around her desk.

"You're not moving or lifting them on your own. Get me or get a security guard or anyone else," Hodgins told her when he realized just how much stuff Caroline had sent over.

"Yes, Dad," Cam rolled her eyes unnerved.

"I'm being serious," he said and turned her around by the back of her chair so she was looking up at him. "If I see you lifting any of these boxes I'll find ways to make you stop working all together and if I have to I will lock you in the basement," he told her, but didn't smile this time.

"I didn't lift them. I called Stan from the entrance each time, knowing that you'd go into crazy protective mode again," she muttered the truth.

"Ah, I am getting through," he grinned proudly.

"That's my line. Now get out, you're keeping me from work and I have enough of that already," she replied, still pouting slightly.

"I'll be back once I'm done with my stuff. Behave," he warned her, pecked her lips and then left the office so they could both go back to their work, after he had found a reason to check up on her again. It was something that he did at least twice a day and it was especially hard to come up with a new and believable reason each time. She hadn't exploded yet or yelled at him, so he figured she wasn't suspicious yet and he had done a good job so far.

* * *

"Hey, did you take the laundry out of the machine?" Cam asked Jack that evening when she came into the living room after having checked the laundry room in the basement. He was already sitting on their new couch, dressed in his grey sweatpants and green T-shirt, his feet propped up on the table.

"I did. I hung up the underwear and put the rest in the dryer so I wouldn't risk shrinking the lacy goods," he replied and said the last part with a small smile, knowing she would freak if he ruined another set of her underwear.

"Thanks," she replied and sat down next to him on the couch, glad that she wouldn't have to care about the laundry anymore that evening. With a sigh she put her sock clad feet up on the table in front of her and leaned sideways against him. Without looking up from the TV guide he was just flipping through he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and let her relax against him.

"Biggest Loser or crime series?" he asked her.

"Biggest Loser. I don't want to think anymore today, just mock people," she decided and rubbed her baby bump.

"Ok," he nodded and changed the channel. "I put the washed stuffed animals back in the nursery," he added then randomly, thinking about their laundry conversation again.

"We still have to get new curtains for the bedroom. The old ones don't really go with the new wallpaper," Cam randomly changed the topic again with what came to mind.

"Right now, all we need to do is sit in sweatpants and T-shirts on the couch, eat gummi bears and watch while they try to lose weight on TV," Hodgins protested and refused to think about any more tasks they still had to do. Getting everything ready for the new addition to their family and having parts of the house renovated while they were both working full time was exhausting and he sometimes wondered how Cam was able to do it while their son grew inside of her and needed her energy as well.

"I'd like chocolate ice cream better," she said tiredly against his shoulder and nuzzled her nose against his shirt for a moment.

"I can get you some from the kitchen," he offered and managed to finally pull the hair band out of her hair, so that her long strands fell freely down her back.

"No, stay," Cam shook her head. "I'm too comfy and I don't want you to get up." She was silent for a moment and stroked both hands over her swollen stomach while he kept playing with her hair, both watching the show on TV. "It will be a nightmare getting my figure back after the birth, but honestly I couldn't care less right now," she broke the silence.

"I never thought I'd hear you say that, but I actually do believe you," Jack replied, wrapping a strand of her hair around his fingers.

"I don't know if it's you and your damn compliments or simply hormones, but I like this. I feel... I've never felt more like a woman than right now, you know what I mean?" she asked, not sure how to explain it.

"Since I'm not a woman and I've never been pregnant I obviously don't, but I get what you're trying to say," he chuckled quietly, nearly afraid to break the cocoon of the quiet conversation they were having by laughing too loud.

"Idiot," Cam shot back, but grinned.

"Seriously," he said then as a start and actually turned serious, "You have the glow that everyone was talking about and I never saw in any pregnant woman before. You seem to be more comfortable in your own skin than I've ever seen you before. I love it," he told her and brushed his lips against her sleeve, without actually kissing her.

"Must be nature's way of keeping formerly good looking women from jumping off a cliff when becoming fat," Cam smiled.

"It's beautiful," Jack smiled back at her and this time he kissed her softly on the lips.

"Wait until everything is wobbly and hanging after I give birth, doubt you'll find it beautiful then," Cam disagreed with him, but pressed her lips to his again for another soft kiss.

"Not even 4 months anymore," he sighed and slipped his hand underneath hers on her belly, causing her to sigh quietly when warmth radiated from his palm over her skin. "Can I ask you something without you taking it the wrong way?" he said then and made her look up from their joined hands to his face.

"Guess you have to ask to find out," she said so quietly she nearly whispered and kissed him lingeringly again, not knowing if she would be upset with him in a moment or not.

"I want to run something by you, that had been on my mind for a while now, and I just can't find the right time to bring it up... and now we're here, relaxed and happy, so..." he babbled and stopped only when she squeezed his hand and laced her fingers through his, signaling to him that he should just say what was on his mind. "Ok, so... we have talked about getting married a few times already, like a hypothetical option," he started and looked at her closely, relieved when he saw that she didn't look panicked because of the topic. "You know I want to marry you," he stated, then suddenly looked unsure when she didn't react in any way. "You know that, don't you?" he asked.

"I do know that," she confirmed, still sitting as relaxed as before.

"And we both know I haven't really proposed yet." She nodded again. "I will propose to you, but I think that I know you pretty well, so I'm nearly certain that you wouldn't have appreciated me proposing after we found out about the pregnancy. Neither would you like getting married while being pregnant and because I'm aware that you're a very complicated woman I think it wouldn't be wise either to propose to you directly after you have the baby," he looked at her again, this time not seeking her confirmation, because he knew he was right. He was so right that it made Cam smile at how well he knew her. "Taking all that into account means that it'll probably be at least another eight to twelve months before I can even think about proposing to you and even longer until we could get married. That has me worried," he admitted, stroking over the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Why?" she simply asked, astonished at how calm she was while they were talking about such an enormous thing as marriage.

"I know you know I'm rich, you know the words billionaire and billionaire times over, which is what… a gazillionaire?" he tried to joke. "It's just a difference knowing this and living it. I don't want to change anything about us or the way we live. But we're gonna have a son together and I want to make sure that if anything happens to me that you three are taken care of." He held up one hand when she opened her mouth to protest.

"I know you can care for yourself and the kids, but I have money. Lots and lots of money that only in the right hands can be put to good use. It brings advantages and responsibilities, but he'll just have to deal with it, because he's my son. I'm not talking about giving a fourteen year old enough money to go crazy and buy a plane, but about being prepared and getting everything legally in order," he clarified. "I want us to set up everything legally necessary that nobody will ever have a chance to doubt in front of any court in this world that he's the rightful heir to all of this, no matter if we ever get married, die, break up or live happily ever after in concubinage," he finished explaining.

"Ok," Cam nodded with tears in her eyes, that she didn't let fall, even though her shaky smile alone gave away how much his little speech had touched her. "Have your lawyer call my lawyer and I'll sign whatever they come up with."

"We have the same lawyer, because you don't really have a lawyer," he pointed out.

"I know, but it sounded cool," she grinned and bit her tongue to keep from giggling.

"So you're ok with this?" he wanted to make sure.

"As long as there's a paragraph in it, stating that if anything should ever happen to me you will get full custody. The thought alone that my family could raise my child makes me cringe," Cam told him and scrunched up her face at the thought. "And I know that you would get custody if something happened to me, but I just don't want to take any chances."

"That's another thing: I want us to have joint custody from the second he's born. Since we're not married we'll have to get this stuff legally sorted out before," he requested.

"I want you to have custody right from the start. I also want Michelle to be his legal guardian if anything ever happens to us, which means we'll have to name a legal guardian for her if she's under 18. How about you call your lawyer next week and tell him to set everything up and check if we missed anything?" she asked.

"Thank you," Jack said relieved that she had taken it all so well.

"You're welcome. Can we watch them torturing themselves now?" Cam grinned and snuggled more into him when he wrapped his other arm around her as well.

"Sure," he grinned happily and placed a kiss on her hair, then rested his cheek against it. Now that he had talked to her he felt a lot calmer than he had ever since she had told him she was pregnant. The worry about what would happen if something would happen to her, to him or to them was eased now that he knew she wanted him to have every right and every obligation as well. He would never have to struggle for time with his kid like Booth had, nor would he be able to punish her by taking everything away from her if things ever got bad- not that he would ever do that, even with his anger management issues. Their son would always have both of them no matter what and if they weren't around anymore he would know that they had cared enough to plan ahead and make the necessary precautions to assure that he would always be cared for and looked after.

"Jack?" Cam asked and brought him out of his reverie.

"Mmh?"

"Can you get me the chocolate ice cream after all? Our son really wants some," she smiled without taking her eyes off the TV.

"Anything for you," he chuckled and pulled her into a long kiss, then placed another kiss on her belly before he went off to get the salve for her cravings again. He just couldn't help it.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks again to Gianna for betaing.

And we're getting closer...

* * *

**Chapter 4: Jail birds and hedgehogs**

"Both upper central incisors are broken into pieces approximately 1 mm in circumference," Cam said into the microphone she wore, while she proceeded with her autopsy, looking into the victim's mouth. "Right molar is... ow," she exclaimed and placed a hand on her back while she switched off the recording with the other. "Damn Braxton Hicks," she cursed. "How am I supposed to work like this?" she asked, although no one was there to give her an answer. "Ok, then we have to do this another way," she sighed and stepped onto the pedal on the floor, lowering the autopsy table as much as possible. Then she pulled over her desk chair, pulling it up as far as possible and slowly sat down. "Ah, so much better," she found, but kept rubbing her back, the fake contractions not yet over completely.

"You're doing your autopsies sitting now? You're sure you should still be working, cherie?" Caroline asked when she walked into the autopsy room.

"I'm fine. Did Hodgins send you?" Cam replied unnerved and opened the mouth of the dead soldier on her table again.

"I'm not getting in the middle of your little love games," the attorney protested. "All I care to know is what you were thinking when you published that article about brain damage in veterans," she came straight to the point.

"I've autopsied a lot of dead soldiers since Dr. Brennan left and found that most of them show anomalies in the brain and I decided to do some research. I then made an article out of that observation. Is there a problem with it?" Cam stopped her autopsy again.

"Don't you have enough to do here? Do you need to start a new war while you're so pregnant you can't even see your own feet anymore?" Caroline asked annoyed.

"I felt it was my duty to report what I had found," the coroner insisted.

"You better not make any mistakes from now on or they'll have your ass kicked out of here, pregnant or not."

"I really don't have time for this now, Caroline. I need to finish this autopsy today so I can go to a meeting with the head of the Jeffersonian tomorrow, because we're having a budgeting issue since Dr. Brennan left. And last but not least I have to be at a childbirth class at the hospital Thursday at eight, thanks to the crazy father of this kid," Cam listed and counted the single points off on her fingers.

"Don't forget to eat, drink, calm down and brace yourself for the storm that is surely about to come. I doubt you want your baby to be born this week," Caroline advised and seemed more worried than annoyed now.

"I will slow down once I have all the dead soldiers out of my storage. One more to go," Cam sounded appeased as well.

* * *

"Dr. Hodgins, this is Dr. Karl. I'm the head of the American Entomological Society," the man on the other end of the phone said, when Hodgins had picked up his on Tuesday morning.

"Yeah, I remember. I think we met once at a conference," Hodgins replied and leaned back in his chair.

"I'm calling because I read your article on Nitrification in freshwater sediments as influenced by insect larvae and we're interested in having you as a guest speaker for our next big conference next month," Dr. Karl came straight to the reason of his call.

"Uhm, that is a bit short notice to be honest," Hodgins replied, really stunned that he was being asked to speak in front of other experts with just a three week notice.

"I know, but we would really appreciate it if you could give the speech. Your findings were exceptional," his colleague tried to sweet talk Hodgins into saying yes.

"I will think about it and call you back." Hodgins tried avoiding answering right that moment. His plan was to work less and keep an eye on Cam before she worked herself into the ground, but if he took the offer he would need to work more.

"Ok, but please inform me within the next two days, otherwise it will be simply impossible to find a substitute," Dr. Karl requested.

"I will, bye," Hodgins said quickly before he could keep him from work any longer. Once he had hung up he looked around, trying to remember what he had just been doing when the phone had rung. He found the sample sitting under the microscope. He rolled over with his chair and looked through the lenses again.

"What are you?" he muttered, still not sure what kind of larvae egg he was dealing with. He stared again, squinted and then sighed, knowing that after the call he could concentrate even less than before the call. Ever since Cam had published her research results on the brain damage in soldiers all hell had broke loose and he didn't like it one bit. He knew what she had been up to and he had supported her in not just ignoring her findings, but he didn't like that she had already published her results. She could have waited until after their son was born, when she wasn't still working on a new team, dealing with budgeting issues, birthing class and her crazy family all at once. She was working overtime every day anyway, trying to prepare the institute for her maternity leave, but every time she had one task completed something else popped up. The brain damage thing was just the tip of the ice-berg.

"Dr. Hodgins, could you come and help us, we're ready to take the flesh off the bones now. I thought you'd want the clothes, hair and fingernails," Clark Edison said when he entered Jack's lab.

"Does Cam know about this?" Hodgins asked, knowing she would kill them for de-fleshing the body without her okay.

"Yes, I sent her an email and she gave her ok," Clark nodded and then hurried off. Hodgins wanted to follow him when his cell phone rang. He checked the screen to see who was calling and picked up when he saw Michelle's number on the screen.

"Hi Michelle," he greeted her and walked out into the lab, his phone pressed to his ear.

"Hi. Do you know how I can reach Cam?" she asked him and sounded upset.

"She's in a meeting, so either you write her an email and hope she checks her Blackberry or you wait," he replied. "Why? What's going on?" he wanted to know.

"Cam's dad just called. They arrested Matt's wife today because she stole clothes for the kids while still being on probation. She'll go to jail if someone doesn't pay the $8,000 bail and pays for a really good lawyer. Also the kids were already picked up by child services and they refuse to hand them over in the care of Jo, because they say he's too old to look after four kids all alone," Michelle reported.

"They're probably right," Hodgins nodded and rubbed one hand over his face tiredly, not really knowing what he should do.

"If we can't find a legal guardian for the kids they are going to foster care," Michelle pressed. He knew she would never say anything, but she didn't want those kids to stay under the guidance of child services.

"Listen, you send Cam an email telling her to call me as soon as possible. I'll take care of something here and then call Jo and a lawyer. We'll get the kids out at least," he promised.

"Ok," the teen replied, sounding relieved. "When will you be home?"

"As soon as I finish up here I will come home, I don't want the others sticking their noses into our private business. See you later," he said and hung up, then hurried over to the platform where the others were already waiting for him.

"Problems Hodgins?" Arastoo asked.

"Yeah, I need to take care of some stuff at home. I'll leave once we're done here," he informed them.

"We're still waiting on the larvae analysis, Dr. Hodgins," Clark said annoyed, not happy with the lacking results so far.

"Then I guess you have to wait a day longer," Hodgins barked at him and helped take the shirt off the dead guy on the table without ripping his skin off. The trousers and underwear followed. "You're sure Cam doesn't want to autopsy this guy?" he asked just to be sure.

"He was already autopsied before he was buried. Cam went over the autopsy reports again after he was dug up, but the inconsistencies she found can't be verified by the soft tissue anymore, because there's not much left," Clark pointed out, still angry at Hodgins.

"Ok, the clothes are off, please bring the rest to my lab when you're done, I really have to go," he said, checking his watch and realizing they had needed nearly an hour of work to undress the corpse.

* * *

When Hodgins arrived home he realized that Jo's car was sitting in their driveway and Jo was sitting in the living room, a cup of coffee in front of him, looking stressed and tired.

"Hey Jo," Hodgins greeted him without a smile. There was nothing pleasant about the situation and he couldn't say he was happy to see him under the current circumstances.

"Jack," the older man nodded. "Where's Cam?" he wanted to know and stood up to shake hands, then sat down again.

"Still in the meeting I guess. She hasn't called me so she must be busy," Hodgins replied and sat down as well.

"So what are we gonna do?" Michelle asked and looked helplessly from one to the other.

"On my way here I called my lawyer, he will take Kendra's case and he will get the kids out, but he said that we need a legal guardian for them and a place for them to stay in case their mother will spend some time away from home," he summed up what he had learned on the phone.

"I can do it," Jo said immediately.

"You're over sixty and alone, that's not really ideal for taking care of four kids," Jack replied and held up his arms when Jo's look darkened and it seemed he would attack any moment. "That's what the lawyer said and what child services will say," he defended himself.

"What about Jo junior? He lives in New York, so the kids wouldn't have to leave their hometown," Michelle suggested.

"I already talked to Junior, even to Mia and Brandon, but they can't take them. Junior works all day and they already barely make it, Mia just refused and Paula won't let Brandon take the kids. Caitlin would take them, but with four of her own kids still at home she doesn't have the space," Jo reported and suddenly looked older and less powerful than Jack had ever seen him.

"We can't take four kids, Jo," Hodgins shook his head, answering the unspoken question in the room.

"I know," Cam's father nodded.

"Cam is working all day, so am I and she's 29 weeks along. She should relax, not run after four kids," Hodgins insisted just to make it clear that he wasn't saying this just because it was easier for him.

"How is she anyway? Everything ok?" Mr. Saroyan wanted to know. "I haven't talked to her in a few weeks."

"She's fine, so is the baby. I'm just worried she's working too much," Jack admitted and leaned back into the cushions of their new couch. "I think to save us all some trouble we should just pay the bail for Kendra and send her home to her kids," he went on after a moment when they all stared blankly ahead.

"I'm not sure child services will give her the kids back that easily. It's not the first time they took them away," Jo admitted.

"Honestly, I don't even think the kids should stay with her. If you ask me they are better off with a good foster family than staying with their deadbeat father and a mother who is stoned one second and stealing the next," Hodgins exploded then, not caring if he would anger his kind of father in law.

"Kendra is clean. And she only stole the clothes because she has no money to buy them for the kids. With Matt in jail they barely have an income and the little they get she sends Matt so he can pay for his safety in prison. Not everybody lives as carefree when it comes to money as you do here," Jo defended his son.

"I might have inherited a fortune, but I still work my butt off every day and so does Cam. We learned, we studied, we work. That's how you do it. Even without my inheritance we would still be well off and so is Michelle and so will be our son," Hodgins said loudly. "Matt should have tried education and work instead of drugs and doing nothing," he finished his rant.

"You're right, I apologize," Jo said quietly and looked at his hands.

"I don't think you all realize what Cam has achieved and what she does day in and day out. For you she's the lucky one, the one who miraculously made it and now gets paid the big bucks and wears expensive clothes and drives a big car. Every time one of you call you want something and when she goes to New York every once in a while, you let her be belittled by her siblings and stand idly by while telling Felicia that her messed up life isn't as bad. Cam is the head of the forensic department of the Jeffersonian Institute and the federal medical examiner for DC and environs. She didn't just get the job because she's pretty, she got it because she's damn good," Hodgins fumed and vented what he had wanted to say for a long time. "I will help you out this time and the next time and the next one after that. But what I ask in return is some respect for Cam, for Michelle and our family." Jack put his foot down this time now that Cam wasn't around and glared at Mr. Saroyan.

"You will be a great father, son," he complimented and put his hand on Hodgins' shoulder, wearing a small smile.

"Now that we have your territorial fights out of the way: What are we gonna do?" Michelle commented on their exchange and reminded them of the task.

"We will get the kids, then Kendra. I say we keep them here until Kendra is out and if that takes more than a week, they'll stay with you and I'll pay for a full time nanny," Hodgins decided. "After that we will do whatever the lawyer tells us."

"Ok, then I'll get the guest rooms ready and child proofed," Michelle nodded relieved and walked off to start.

"You want to stay for dinner?" Hodgins turned to Jo.

"I should drive to New York and..." he started to decline.

"Edwardson, the lawyer is already in New York and trying to get the kids. He'll bring them back here as soon as he has them," Hodgins revealed that he had given instructions to the lawyer even before he had talked to Jo.

"What will Cam say?" her father wondered.

"Option A is she will be pissed at Kendra and relieved we already took care of everything," Hodgins started and walked into the kitchen, with Jo following him.

"And option B?"

"She will be pissed at all of us for not waiting for her to make the decisions," Jack shrugged, knowing there was no going back now anyway. All they could do was sit and await their fate. Or cook while waiting.

* * *

"Jack? Why is my dad's car in... oh hi Dad," Cam said surprised when she walked into the living room around nine that night.

"I take it you didn't check your emails again?" Hodgins asked her and pecked her on the lips after she had greeted her father.

"No, the meeting got crazy and then I just wanted to come home. I'm starving," she sighed tiredly and sat down beside him.

"Kendra got arrested and the kids were taken by child services, but Jack's lawyer got them out and is gonna arrive with them in about two hours," her father summed up the events of the day.

"What?" Cam gaped at them, her eyes nearly popping out.

"They will stay here for one week tops and then either go to your dad and a nanny or Kendra," Jack added. "Michelle already prepared the rooms."

"I... you… why didn't you call me?" Cam still couldn't sort her thoughts or words.

"I tried and had Michelle send you an email, hoping you would check them. When you didn't call back we had to make a decision," Jack said and was aware that she had moved away from him.

"We? You mean you. This is my family and would have been my decision to make," Cam started. "And now suddenly your lawyer is in all of this, and I honestly doubt my dad can afford to pay his bill."

"What's the big deal? If you were here we would have come to the same conclusion," Hodgins tried to stay calm. Cam had obviously chosen option B and he was her main target.

"The big deal? The big deal is that for the last few weeks you have been an overbearing ass, who tells me constantly what's good for me and what I can and can't do. And now you're even getting involved in the business of my messed up family? Why can't you just... stop?" Cam suddenly yelled at him and was off the couch.

"I can't stop because you're irresponsible and crazy, both when it comes to your family and work. You're pregnant and already buried so deep in work that I can't see the top of your head anymore. And then you decide to publish this damn report about the brain damage. Now the men in charge are just waiting for you to screw up and have already started by cutting back our budget. Why didn't you wait like I told you?" Hodgins yelled back, frustrated with her reaction and the day altogether.

"The men out there fighting for our freedom are being damaged irrevocably and I can't have that," she argued back, her father looking back and forth from one to the other.

"Look out for yourself and our son first before you start fighting the war of others, who shouldn't be out there fighting in the first place. Now go and get something to eat, because you haven't eaten all day," he screamed back and pointed to the kitchen door.

"Sorry, I forgot, in your little conspiracy universe there are no wars, because everything is just set up by the politicians," she snorted. "And I'm not hungry anymore, so leave me the hell alone," she spat and then walked out of the living room and stomped up the stairs.

"You better go and apologize," Cam's father said tentatively.

"I have nothing to apologize for. I'm down in the basement if you need me and then out for a run," Hodgins replied aggressively and left Jo alone in front of the TV.

* * *

"Are they here yet?" Cam asked quietly when she came into the living room again three hours later and found only her father there to her big surprise.

"No, not yet," her father replied and patted the couch beside him. With a loud sigh Cam followed his request and sat down.

"Where's Jack?" she asked him then.

"He went for a run nearly two hours ago and isn't back yet," Jo replied.

"A run? At this time of night? Is he nuts?" Cam got upset again.

"He was upset and looked like either going for a run or punching a hole in the wall," her father said with a small smile.

"He has a punching bag in the basement for his anger management issues," Cam shrugged, leaning back against the couch. "Shh, it's ok, he'll be back," she said to her baby bump and placed her hands on top of it, rubbing slow, calming circles.

"He really helped us out today, Cami. I wouldn't have known what to do without him," her father insisted and watched her hands stroke over her stomach.

"I know. I'm just frustrated and cranky today," she admitted.

"Pregnancy hormones?" her father asked.

"No, too much work and too little time with Jack and Michelle," she replied. "Jack was right, I should have waited with publishing that article. But I just wanted it out there and didn't think it would cause this big a reaction," Cam went on, still trying to calm her kicking son.

"He feels that you're upset. You should calm down and eat something. I'm sure Jack will be back soon," Jo tried to calm her.

"I can't eat when we fight," she sighed and let her father pull her towards him so that her head was resting on his shoulder.

"He's just as worried about you, if not even more so. You don't make it easy for the poor guy, working like that. Nine is way too late to come home - and no, don't lie to me by telling me it's a onetime thing," her father stopped her and Cam gave him a little smile. Just then they heard the front door opening. "Go and apologize, so that you and my grandson can calm down," her father advised her and Cam rolled her eyes, but got up anyway.

"Hey," she said tentatively when she saw him standing in the hallway, covered in sweat and red in the face.

"Hey," he panted and took another sip of water which he had in a plastic bottle that he had carried with him while running.

"You went for a really long run," she stated the obvious and took a step closer to him.

"I was really angry," he shrugged and closed the water bottle. "The kids already here?"

"No, not yet," she shook her head and looked at him, her warm, brown eyes shimmering with regret.

"I'd say come here for a make-up hug, but I'm all sweaty," he smiled, reading her eyes.

"I don't care," Cam laughed and went into his open arms, wrapping hers around him and got as close as she could with her pregnant stomach in between, not minding that he was dripping with sweat.

"He seems pretty upset," Jack commented, feeling the kicks against his own stomach.

"He is, he missed his daddy," Cam mumbled against his shoulder.

"Have you eaten already?" he asked her, placing a kiss on her hair and resting his open palm against her belly.

"No, I wasn't hungry anymore," she replied in the negative.

"Then go feed yourself and the kicking one here, and I'm gonna take a shower," he decided for them and Cam only nodded, not minding the least that he was deciding for her again.

"Thank you," she said instead, pulled his lips down to hers and kissed him, sweat and all.

"Go eat," Jack laughed when they pulled back and placed another kiss on her forehead.

* * *

"Kitchen still standing although you heated up food?" he teased her half an hour later when he came into the kitchen, dressed in a fresh shirt and sweatpants and his hair still damp.

"Oh shut up," Cam replied laughingly and ignored Michelle's laughter.

"They're still not here?" Hodgins asked, realizing that the kids and the lawyer were still missing.

"The lawyer called and said that they're stuck just outside DC. They checked into a hotel and will be by tomorrow morning," Cam let him know.

"Jo, you wanna spend the night here? It's late already," Jack offered.

"If you don't mind," Cam's father shrugged, still leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Come on, I'll show you the guest room and my new loft. You haven't seen it yet," Michelle jumped at the chance of showing him her freshly renovated studio on the third story and slid off her stool.

"Ok then, good night, see you tomorrow," Jo said and kissed Cam on the cheek before he left with Michelle.

"We're going to bed as well?" Jack asked Cam and pulled her closer by her hips.

"Mmmh," she made and laid her head on his chest.

"I thought about this, about us, while I was running," he said then and stroked over her hair.

"Oh," Cam just replied and didn't change her position.

"What happened tonight was a result of us feeling like hamsters in a wheel. For weeks all we did was work, come home, eat and go to bed. I think the last time we did something else was the trip to Palms Springs," he told her.

"You're right. I'm just so tired all the time," she agreed. "All the energy I can muster up is going to work in the morning and coming home at night and going back to sleep," she agreed.

"I'm not talking about sex," he chuckled when he realized what she was getting at. "It seems you always find energy for that," he grinned.

"Not as often as I used to a couple of weeks ago," she grinned back.

"True, but I'm still not complaining. You wore me out during your second trimester," he grinned when she slapped his chest. "I just think we should go on a date. Just you and me, dressing up, going out for dinner, maybe a movie," he suggested.

"Sounds great. Just no movie, I have to go pee every five minutes," Cam considered it.

"Then dinner. And you're exaggerating about the peeing thing," he said and then kissed her softly before he yawned.

"You're tired?" she asked him with a glint in her eyes that made him suspicious.

"A bit. Why?" he asked her back with raised eyebrows.

"Now that I am awake, I think we could revisit the sex discussion. Last night without the kids in the house," she grinned.

"Well, when you put it that way," he chuckled and kissed her again, this time much more passionately.

* * *

On Thursday night when they walked into the hospital hand in hand Cam was in a much better mood than she had been before.

"I can't tell you how glad I am that Kendra got out and picked her kids up today. One more day with Tay and Tyron and I would have killed them," she told Hodgins on their way to the elevator.

"You do know that we're having a son, not a girl with cute pink shirts," he dared to point out with a smile.

"Our son won't be like that. They basically trashed the room they were in. I still don't know how they managed to reach the lamp and make it come down," she protested.

"A baseball and a glove will do the trick," he laughed knowingly.

"Don't tell me you gave it to them." Cam couldn't believe it.

"I didn't think they would play inside. I told them to stay outside with that stuff," Hodgins defended himself. "And personally I think that Nesha was much more demanding than the two boys," he pointed out.

"She was really clingy this time. I guess having your mother arrested in front of your eyes does that to you," she sighed.

"Ok, now we stop talking about the past and concentrate on right now and the baby, 'kay?" he asked her when they reached the room where the birthing class was held.

"Ok," she agreed and pecked his lips.

"Hi there," the midwife greeted them. She was an older woman not yet in her sixties, with short gray hair and a gentle smile that made Cam like and trust her instantly.

"Hi, Jack Hodgins and Camille Saroyan, I think we talked on the phone," Hodgins introduced them.

"I'm Kate," she replied as they shook hands. "We are just waiting for one more couple and then we can go and take a look at the maternity ward of the clinic. If you don't mind I'd like to do a quick exam to see that everything is ok and we won't risk premature labor," she turned to Cam.

"Uhm, ok, as long as I'm not getting pricked again," Cam smiled back.

"No, I just want to see what position your baby is in," Kate laughed. "If you'll just lay down on the mat over there and pull up your shirt," she instructed and led them past the other couples, who Cam and Hodgins greeted with a short hello and got knowing smiles in return.

"You want to give me your jacket?" Hodgins asked Cam and held out his hand.

"Thanks," she replied and handed her black warm coat to him before she lay down.

"Now let's see," the midwife said and gently pressed down on Cam's stomach, smiling when she felt a kick. "Quite the karate kid you have there," she laughed.

"Believe me, I know," Cam chuckled.

"This round and flat thing here is your kids rear end," Kate told Cam and let her feel it, then showed Hodgins. "You're having a boy or a girl? Or do you want to be surprised?" she asked them then.

"A boy," Jack replied proudly.

"Here are the feet, as you can surely tell," Kate went on. "He's basically snuggled into your side," she explained. "Here's the head," she pointed to the upper right part of Cam's belly, "here's the rear and the feet are down here." She seemed content with her findings.

"Shouldn't he turn at one point?" Hodgins asked.

"Most babies turn between the 30th and 36th week, so everything is fine. Has the pregnancy gone well so far or have you had any problems?" Kate wanted to know.

"No, no problems. My back kills me sometimes, but I guess that's normal, " Cam replied and sat up.

"I will show you some massage techniques later that might help you," the midwife said and then got up when the last couple entered the room. She examined the new woman as well and talked shortly to them before she led them all out of the room and into the maternity ward and to the delivery rooms.

"I don't know how many of you have decided to give birth here in the hospital, at home or a special private practice. I'm going to show you the different possibilities for a natural birth here anyway. Please interrupt me anytime you have a question," she finished her introduction and switched on the light in the first delivery room.

After showing them the room with the tub for water births, the one that had a large robe hanging from the ceiling and all kinds of balls and a large bed they were back in the training room, sitting on their mats and learning correct breathing techniques to use during childbirth.

"If I keep doing that I'm gonna collapse," Hodgins gasped quietly and made Cam laugh.

"Luckily you won't be the one pushing the kid out," she grinned and then focused on breathing into her stomach again.

"Slowly, just feel your breath reaching your belly, see how it rises. And breathe out again," Kate instructed while she walked through the room and inspected what they were doing.

Suddenly Hodgins made a drum sound and then sang quietly "The way you make me feel... you really turn me on," into Cam's ear and cracked her up. In a matter of seconds she was laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

"I can assure you that won't work during birth as a form of distraction," Kate looked disapprovingly at him.

"Sorry," he said, but didn't really seem bothered.

"You will make us the first couple to ever get thrown out of a childbirth class," Cam shook her head, but snuggled back in his arms to feel the breaths reaching her stomach.

"Junior seems to be asleep," Jack whispered in her ear, his hot breath against her neck making her tingle.

"Yeah, he usually is around this time," she replied quietly.

"Ok, now take the red balls that look slightly like hedgehogs men, while your women lean forward and relax," Kate instructed.

"These don't look anything like a hedgehog. The spines of the common hedgehog of the family of Erinaceidae are..." Hodgins started, but Cam placed her hand over his mouth.

"Shut up Jack and start massaging with the red spiky ball," she told him and this time it wasn't Hodgins who laughed, but Kate, who had witnessed their exchange.

* * *

"And did you learn how to breathe?" Michelle grinned when they came back home that night.

"Yes, although Jack nearly got us thrown out of the course," Cam nodded with a smile.

"Why don't you know how to breathe?" Tallulah's voice suddenly came from the living room and a second later the child walked into the hallway, dressed in her pink Hello Kitty pajamas.

"I think I'm hallucinating. The breathing exercises ruined my brain," Hodgins deadpanned when he saw the child.

"Jo brought her over an hour ago, saying she screamed all the way to his apartment, at his apartment and the whole way back here, because she wants to stay here until they go back to New York this weekend," Michelle informed them like it was the most normal thing.

"So he just brought her back?" Cam couldn't believe it. What happened to calling and asking?

"Why does the saying 'You break it, you buy it' come to mind?" Michele asked teasingly while Tallulah looked from one to the other, trying to understand what the adults were talking about.

"More like 'You pay for it then you have to care for it'," Cam corrected and then turned to Jack. "You know now why I always tell you to just stay away from them and don't help them out? Because this is how they show their gratitude," she informed him and pointed to the four year old in their hallway.

"You don't want me to stay?" the girl asked, her bottom lip quivering alarmingly.

"Oh, sweetie, of course you can stay. We just wish that your grandpa would have told us before," Cam replied soothingly and crouched down in front of her niece.

"I just don't want the police to come in at night again and take me away," the girl started to cry.

"No one will take you away here," Cam soothed her and pulled her into her arms.

"Nesha here as well?" Jack asked Michelle suspiciously.

"No, she wanted to stay with Jo and her mother," she replied.

"What is that?" Tallulah asked and pulled back from Cam, looking down to her stomach.

"That's the baby kicking. He just woke up," Cam informed her.

"Really? But the baby is still in your tummy, how can it kick?" the girl asked in wonder.

"Let me get up and I'll show you, ok?" Cam replied and untangled from the girl, who took her hand as soon as she was standing upright again, with the help of Hodgins.

"I'm going to bed, it's already late. Goodnight," Michelle excused herself when the other three made their way into the living room. Cam sat down on the couch and slowly pulled her shirt up.

"Give me your hand," she said to her niece and took her little hand in hers. "Now put it here and press down a little," Cam instructed and showed her how to do it. A second later the first kick against Tallulah's hand was sent and made her giggle.

"You felt that?" Jack asked her, already knowing the answer.

"He kicked me. Again," the girl laughed and forgot for a moment how scared she was of the police or child services taking her away from the people she loved. Her full attention was now on Cam's stomach and the kicks of the baby, while Cam and Jack grinned at each other over her head, relieved that she seemed happy - at least for the moment.

* * *

"Wow, look at you," Hodgins said appreciatively when Cam came down the stairs to the hallway on Saturday evening. It was date night for them and while he wore black trousers and a nice dress shirt, Cam had gone all out and wore a silky black dress that showed a lot of cleavage and played loosely around her curves. The skirt ended above her knees and the black high heels with the little rim stones on them matched the long pendulum earrings she wore. Her hair was wrapped up in a loose chignon, strands seemingly haphazardly falling out, framing her face.

"I take it the shopping trip this afternoon was worth it," she grinned when she saw and felt his eyes roaming over her body.

"I didn't know they made maternity dresses like this," he was still stunned.

"They do, you just have to find them and pay a lot of money for them," she grinned and stepped down the last stair.

"That dress is worth every cent," he decided and pulled her body into his with a hand on her lower back.

"Good," she smiled and her eyes darkened a shade when he kissed her hungrily. "First dinner, then dessert," Cam said huskily when she broke the kiss and picked up her clutch from the small table. Jack took her coat and helped her into it, placing a kiss on her neck just because he could.

"I don't know how long I'll be able to keep my hands off of you," he stated, his eyes still lit up with lust.

"If you make it through dinner that will be enough," Cam laughed and threw the car keys his way while she walked out the front door. He caught them just before they would have hit him in the face and then followed her outside for their first date in months.

* * *

"... and then he went and bought another batch, ate two more and threw up again," Hodgins finished one of his college stories and made Cam laugh. When he was done talking he took another sip of his only glass of red wine for the night.

"Felicia did that one time; she ate so much and then threw up. I don't think it was pancakes, but cupcakes," Cam replied laughingly. When she noticed how he looked at her she stopped, her laughter diminishing to a smile. "What?" she asked him, a bit self-conscious.

"Nothing, I'm just happy to be here with you and see that despite all the tension these last few weeks we can find our way back to the way we were and should be," he replied with a shrug and a smile.

"I like it here, it's nice," she complimented, but didn't comment on the other things he'd said.

"I haven't been here for years," he admitted.

"Why?" she asked, sensing that something had happened that made him stay away.

"At that table over there I proposed to Angela for the first time. It was also the first time she said no," he replied and pointed to a table at the other end of the room.

"I guess you're safe this time. Or do you plan on proposing tonight?" Cam asked him mischievously and wasn't the slightest bit disturbed by his admission.

"I will propose when I think the time is right for us. And it's not tonight. But did I tell you already that I had toyed with the thought of proposing before you got pregnant?" he admitted and his cheeks flushed red.

"No, you didn't," she replied and took another sip of her peach juice.

"I didn't really have a plan or anything, but I liked the thought. Then when we got back together after our 'pause' I thought about it again and I actually had a plan. But before I could set it in motion you were pregnant again and ruined my plan - again," he said the last part teasingly and made her laugh.

"Sorry," she grinned. "But you participated as well," she pointed out.

"Ten weeks," he sighed.

"Ten weeks," she nodded and laced her fingers through his when he took her hand.

"You think he'll stick to the due date?" Jack asked her.

"I don't know. So far he hasn't turned. Maybe he'll be late," she wondered.

"Nah," Hodgins shook his head, not believing it. "I actually think he'll be early," he added.

"I think you might be right," Cam agreed and Hodgins noticed again how the candlelight danced in her happy brown eyes.

"You want dessert?" he asked her, his voice already husky and his eyes trailing down her face to her cleavage.

"Yes," she nodded. "At home."

"Bill please," Hodgins called out in response to her request and their eyes locked when she pressed a soft kiss on the knuckles of the hand joined with hers.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

It's Saturday so the update fits.

Thanks to Gianna for betaing.

Thanks to everyone for reading. Hope you like it

* * *

**Chapter 5: Saturdays**

It wasn't the easiest thing doing an autopsy while being 35 weeks pregnant and Cam just felt uncomfortable and huge. Her back was aching, her feet hurt and she couldn't remember anymore when she had last been able to see her toes while standing upright. Still, she insisted on working. The thought of spending all day alone at home with nothing to do was even more unbearable than leaning over an autopsy table for hours.

"Lunch time," Hodgins announced and entered her office with two bags.

"I'm in the middle of an autopsy," she protested, knowing she couldn't just let the body lie there while she went for lunch.

"No excuses. Pack him away, change and then we're eating," he replied, knowing he would win in the end.

"Ok, I'll change, you pack him away, then we'll eat." She changed his plans, knowing he wouldn't let her roll the gurney over to the freezer anyway.

"If I've got dead body on my shirt afterwards it's your fault," he complained, but had already got up and put on rubber gloves. While she changed back into her black maternity top and slacks he put the body back into its cold compartment, took off the gloves and washed his hands.

"What did you get?" she asked when she came out and pointed to the brown paper bags.

"Ham sandwich and fries for me, tuna sandwich and curly fries for you," he told her and grabbed the two bags. "Outside or up to the lounge?" he asked her.

"Lounge. It's too cold to eat outside," she decided and followed him. Slowly she climbed the stairs, while he stayed behind her, looking out for her.

"You ok?" he wanted to know when they reached the longue with the couches, table and chairs. He could see that she was really out of breath from just climbing those few stairs.

"Yes, everything's all right, I just have to sit down," she nodded and slowly lowered herself onto the couch, while steadying herself with one arm behind her on the backrest. She sat very close to the edge and leaned backwards, stuffing two pillows underneath her back, so she was nearly lying down. "Ah," she sighed and closed her eyes.

"Just a few more weeks," he laughed when he saw her blissful expression, when she had found the only comfortable position to sit in.

"Ever since he turned and has his feet underneath my ribs I just feel uncomfortable. Having your lungs kicked really isn't pleasant," she said and held out her hands for the food.

"Can you eat like that?" he asked her.

"Why? Will you feed me if I say no?" she grinned.

"If we were at home, I totally would," Hodgins laughed and watched her as she placed the bag on her stomach. "Since he turned your belly is also sticking out more, but not as wide anymore," he observed.

"I think I'll stay this way for a while," she sighed and took another bite of her sandwich.

"You're sure you're ok driving home alone tonight?" he changed the topic and sat down beside her.

"Won't be a problem. I can still reach the steering wheel," she rolled her eyes.

"You could also come and listen to my speech," he suggested and the way he said it made it clear that he wanted her with him.

"Oh Jack, I'd really love to go with you, but honestly the thought of sitting on a chair for hours, while the couch is waiting for me..." she said with an apologetic smile and took his hand in hers.

"It's ok, I understand..." he said and gave her hand a squeeze, although the disappointment was visible in his eyes.

"You'll give the speech again for me, this weekend?" she asked, trying to find a way to make it up to him.

"Ok," he nodded, but lacked all enthusiasm. The rest of their lunch passed in silence, both of them deep in thought.

* * *

"Michelle, where are you?" Cam called when she came home that night and just let her purse and her jacket drop to the floor.

"Here, what's wrong?" the teen asked and stuck her head out from the living room.

"Nothing's wrong, I just need your help," Cam replied.

"With?" Michelle wanted to know.

"Jack is giving his speech in an hour at the congress and he asked me again today if I could come and he looked so sad when I told him I'd rather stay at home on the couch," Cam explained.

"And now you want to go to make him happy, although you're so pregnant you might pop any second," Michelle summed up what she knew would follow in Cam's explanation.

"Hey, watch it!" Cam warned her and then nodded. "But you're right. I need you to help me get ready and then drive me there. Can't drive while pregnant and wearing heels."

"Ok, then let's roll, otherwise we'll miss the speech," Michelle agreed and pulled her towards the stairs.

"We?" Cam asked disbelievingly.

"Sure, we. Dr. H. will kill me if I let you walk in high heels without supervision now that your balance is somewhat off," Michelle giggled.

"Just wait, Missy, one day you'll be pregnant and then I'll be the one laughing and teasing," Cam huffed, but knew that her daughter was right. Ever since her son had turned she was having trouble again with her balance, just like she had in the beginning when she had started to show.

"Hurry up, we're already late," Michelle nagged while she and Cam hurried through the foyer - as well as Cam could hurry. When they reached the conference room it was packed with entomologists from all over the world, while Hodgins was up on stage, already three pages into his speech.

"You want to sit down? I'll get you a chair," Michelle whispered to Cam.

"God, no," Cam groaned quietly. "He's up and kicking. I'd suffocate if I sat down right now." She leaned against the doorframe with her shoulder and swayed her body slowly from side to side, while she placed her hands on her belly, hoping it would calm her son down and end his gymnastics class. Her eyes were on Jack, though, who was talking about larvae in fresh water at the moment and showed some pictures on the screen behind him, which made Michelle look away with a disgusted expression on her face.

When Jack looked up from his notes, he looked behind him for a second to check that he was showing the correct picture. Then he let his eyes wander over the audience, who all seemed to listen to him intently. He noticed the light falling into the otherwise semi-dark room from the hallway and saw the open door. The second he recognized the two women leaning in the open doorway his face lit up with a smile and he stopped his speech for a second, momentarily forgetting what he had wanted to say. He saw Michelle and Cam grinning about his reaction and looked over his notes and found where he had left off. His slip went unnoticed by the rest of the audience and when he was done with his speech twenty minutes later they all applauded him.

He climbed down the stage and brushed off the several people who tried to stop him to talk about his speech on his way. He just hoped he wasn't being too rude. When he reached his destination he pulled Cam in his arms and kissed her, not minding that they were surrounded by a lot of people.

"You came," he beamed at her and placed a hand on her belly, where he could feel the summersaults of his son.

"Yes, we came. And next time you better open your mouth and tell me you really want me there instead of sulking in silence," Cam lectured him with a smile and gave him another kiss.

"And you're here as well," he grinned at Michelle and hugged her to him with one arm, once he and Cam had stepped out of their embrace.

"Didn't have a choice, Dr. H.," Michelle replied, but hugged him back.

"Dr. Hodgins?" A man approached him from behind and he turned around to him, recognizing him as the person responsible for the congress. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your speech and tell you that the buffet is open," the elder man went on.

"Thank you," Jack nodded and placed a hand on the small of Cam's back. "May I introduce you to my family," he said then. "Camille Saroyan and Michelle Welton."

"Your wife?" Morton asked, confused by the different last names. Jack looked at Cam and then at Michelle, trying to decide how to answer that. His eyes fell on Cam's hand that rested on her pregnant belly again and he made up his mind.

"Yes, my wife and my daughter," he nodded and surprised his two women.

"Pleased to meet you," Morton said and they shook hands. "I will let you eat now, I'm sure we'll find time later to discuss your work," he said then and walked off again.

"Wife?" Cam asked from his right.

"Daughter?" Michelle echoed from the left.

"As good as, and so much easier to explain," he shrugged with a smile and held out his arms. "Ladies, I hear the buffet is open. I'm sure we'll find some sugary goodness for junior, too," he said and they linked their arms through his and they all made their way over to the food.

* * *

"Are you sure you're ok with staying a bit longer?" Hodgins asked his girlfriend an hour later. They were still at the conference, which had become more of a dance than anything else. Now a band was playing, food was served and people were dancing away on the dance floor.

"Since I took off my shoes I'm feeling better," she told him with a smile and wiggled her toes under the table.

"You shouldn't have worn those crazy heels in the first place," he couldn't help but point out. Why she insisted on wearing them was beyond him anyway. Sure, she always wore sexy high heels with her work clothes or dating clothes, but she was heavily pregnant and the shoes didn't change that.

"The heels aren't the problem, my swollen feet are," she argued back. "It's just not fair that besides getting fat around the middle you also get all pudgy in the face, your legs get fat with water and your feet swell. I just hope it'll all go away again, just as the weight I gained," she went on complaining and Jack knew she would continue to rant on that topic if he didn't stop her.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked her instead of replying to her rant.

"I doubt it'll work," she barked out a laugh.

"Come on, we'll try," he insisted, got up and held out his hand to her.

"Go!" Michelle encouraged her. "You won't get any smaller for the next few weeks and afterwards it'll be a while until you have the opportunity to dance again," she pointed out.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming," Cam rolled her eyes and let Jack help her get up. He led her to the dance floor, still without shoes, and pulled her as close as he could.

"Can we please keep dating once he gets here?" she asked him quietly and rested her chin on his shoulder as they swayed to the slow song.

"Sure. We'll need some alone time even more, once our usual alone time won't exist anymore," he nodded.

"I really wouldn't mind if he gets here sooner than later. Being pregnant isn't fun anymore," she sighed.

"Is there any way I can make it easier for you?" he asked, knowing she hadn't slept a whole night through in a while.

"Not really. At least I can't think of anything," she shook her head and then kissed his cheek. "But thank you for trying."

"Once this song is over we should go home. Michelle looks like she's about to fall asleep on the table and we have to get up tomorrow as well," he said after some more moments of silent swaying.

"Payton is coming over tomorrow to give us updates on the current cases and tell us what else she needs," Cam listed what would await them tomorrow.

"We'll deal with it tomorrow, for now let's just dance and then go home," he said and pulled her a bit closer - as far as their son allowed.

* * *

The next afternoon the Jeffersonian's entire forensic unit was up on the mezzanine, joined by the two FBI agents and Wendell.

"So the killer is still out there?" Hodgins wanted clarification. It had been months and still they hadn't found him? How much more evidence could they give them, until they found the guy who had dumped bodies in the theatre rehearsal house.

"Every lead we had so far turned out to be nothing. All that had motive and opportunity had alibis," Agent Perotta confirmed.

"This must be our worst track record ever," he grumbled.

"Then let's focus back on the case and how we can help get him," Cam intervened before the two FBI agents and Hodgins could get into a fight. It wouldn't be their first one.

"Actually I don't think there's anything else you guys could do," Payton admitted with a look to her colleague. "However we do have a new case and we could use some help with the soil samples," she went on.

"What about the body? Who did the autopsy?" Cam asked her suspiciously.

"We had one of our in house coroners do it, because it was pretty simple," Perotta shrugged.

"Usually I do the autopsies of the bodies that are related to cases we work together," Cam protested.

"I know," the blonde woman admitted. "It's just... I can see that you have your hands full already and I didn't want to add another autopsy to your chart when someone else can do it. Just last week you could barely stand upright because of your back spasms," the agent finally came clean about the reason.

"So you're handing off my work to other coroners without asking me simply because I'm pregnant?" Cam asked icily and Perotta looked taken aback by the strong reaction her admission caused.

"We thought it would help you," Agent Mosse came to the aid of his colleague.

"No, you're right. Just hand over our work to other people, I don't mind. However Dr. HHHHodgins won't be able to process your soil samples either. He's really busy," Cam shrugged and tried to appear indifferent when everyone could see that she was fuming. "Actually, we all are. So if you would excuse us now, we have work to do," she said then, grabbed the folders in front of her and walked off, her head held high. The agents were too stunned to react at first and just watched her walk away.

"She really looks only half as intimidating when she's waddling instead of striding," Mosse muttered quietly.

"Jack?" Payton turned to Hodgins, not really sure what had just happened.

"Don't worry, I'll take a look at those samples. Just send them over in a way that she won't know about," he shrugged.

"I didn't mean to take the case away from her. She's the best coroner around," Perotta defended herself. "I just wanted to help her now that she's so pregnant."

"I know and I appreciate it, but Cam doesn't. She hates that people are treating her different now and insists on pretending nothing has changed," he explained. "She won't even talk to me about maternity leave, even though she's so sick of being pregnant already, that she would rather have the baby today than tomorrow."

"She can't work until the last day," Payton shook her head. "And what will she do afterwards? Someone needs to look after the kid," she pointed out.

"If she won't stay home, I will," Hodgins said calmly. "But knowing her every plan we could possibly make now will change anyway the second he's born, so I don't even bother talking to her about it."

"You're speculating that once she holds the bundle of joy she'll stay at home willingly," Mosse grinned.

"Something like that. But don't tell her or I'm a dead man," Jack laughed.

"We're still on for Saturday?" Mosse asked him then.

"Yup, at noon, my place," Hodgins nodded and they all stood up.

"You think she even wants us there after today?" Perotta asked him.

"It's a surprise so she doesn't get to choose. And her family will be there, so you guys will be the least of her problems," Jack replied with a smile and then saw them off so he could go back to work, before his grouchy boss kicked his butt as well.

* * *

When the doorbell rang Saturday at twelve Cam was sitting on the couch in the living room. She was just about to get up to answer when Jack hurried out of the kitchen.

"Stay, I'll get it," he called over his shoulder. Cam wrinkled her forehead and followed him anyway, wondering what was going on. Maybe this was the reason why he had been acting weird all morning.

"You're expecting someone?" she asked when he had already pressed the button to open the door, without even checking the camera at the gate.

"No, why?" he asked innocently - too innocently.

"Jack, you're the worst liar ever! What is going on? First we have to push back grocery shopping to tomorrow, then I have to get dressed and get out of my comfy sweatpants because you 'feel like it' and now you're running to the door and letting in whoever that is," she summed it up, with her hands on her hips. "And where's Michelle?"

"Just relax, wait for it and stop nagging," he replied with a smile. He wrapped his hands gently around her wrists and pulled her towards him. He didn't mind when she didn't change her posture and wrapped his arms around her middle anyway.

"Jack..." she sighed exasperatedly, but didn't pull away from him.

"Shhh," he just grinned and kissed her to shush her. There was a knock on the door a second later and he had to pull back. One arm still wrapped around her he opened the door and they found at least 40 people standing in front of it, Michelle being one of them. They all seemed surprised to see Cam at the front door, but it took them only a second to look at each other and then yell loudly "Surprise!"

"Oh dear God, let me wake up from this nightmare," Cam muttered quietly when she saw not only her sister and her father, but also her brothers, her sisters in law, her great-aunt, her cousins, several kids, her colleagues and some old friends. "What are you all doing here?" she asked then with a forced smile, still thinking about the horrific fact that her friends and colleagues had just met her crazy family and it looked like they would spend time together. The work of a lifetime - keeping them apart - ruined in one second.

"We're here for your baby shower," her old friend Emilia said and hugged her tightly. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Felicia and the other nutjobs," she whispered in her ear.

"I'm so happy to see you again," Cam said, now genuinely happy to see her friend again.

"Last time we saw each other was the night you found out about this one," Emilia grinned and patted Cam's belly.

"Back when I could still see my own feet," Cam sighed, but then smiled and hugged her friend again.

"Can we come in sometime today to see this palace of yours or do we have to party outside?" Felicia interrupted them in her usual snotty way.

"Behave, or I'll kick you out," Hodgins replied. Ever since her birthday party and the argument with her father he was past keeping his mouth shut all the time. If they wanted to complain about Cam they should go back home and do it there.

"Sorry," Felicia replied defensively and stepped inside when Cam and Emilia had let go of each other. "And wow, you're really pregnant now," she said then, but hugged Cam really tight, showing her sister that she cared a lot for her, even if they were constantly fighting. "Everything alright with you two?"

"We're good. Uncomfortable, bloated and waddling, but fine," Cam told her and then greeted the other guests. Most of them were carrying gifts and most of those gifts were wrapped in baby blue paper. So the word had spread that they were having a boy. A fact Hodgins picked up on as well.

"Oh, and guys, guess what? Last ultrasound revealed that we're having a girl after all," he said while he led their guests into the living room. A shocked silence spread over the room and he looked around proudly.

"He's joking," Cam rolled her eyes and he started to snicker. "Idiot," she lectured him softly as the guests erupted in loud chatter about his joke, some found it funny, others didn't.

"Cami, could you bring your old aunt a glass of scotch? It's been such a long drive," one of her aunts asked, but Jack held her back and softly pushed her in the direction of the couch.

"No, she won't. All Cam does today is sit on the couch, participate in ridiculous games and unwrap presents. Of the rest Michelle, Perry and I will take care of," Hodgins intervened again and Cam shot him a thankful smile. She really didn't feel like running around and tending to the wishes of her extended family.

"Aunt Cami, when is the baby coming?" Tanesha asked her once she had sat down and had got comfortable, while Hodgins, Michelle and Perry were getting drinks and snacks for their guests.

"In four weeks, hopefully sooner," Cam replied.

"You know, if you want to send it back and have me here, I'd still be ok with that," her sister said.

"There's no sending him back, but you're welcome to stay over from time to time," Cam vowed.

"Promise?" the girl insisted at the same time as her sister asked "Me too?"

"Promise, and of course the same goes for you, Nesha."

"Like tonight?" Talullah saw the opportunity and took it.

"Sorry, honey, not tonight. Once the baby is here and we're all settled, then you can stay again," Cam laughed and shook her head at her niece's eagerness.

"But that will take forever," the girl complained dramatically. "You sure you can't send the baby back?"

"Hey, Lullah, take it easy," Hodgins chuckled and handed Agent Perotta her drink. "You'll see once he's here it will be great. Like a little brother for you and Nesha," he tried to calm the girls.

"Brothers suck," Lullah pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest, while her sister just snuggled up to Cam on the couch.

"Ok, then let the games begin," Kendra announced and pulled a large bag with diapers out of her huge bag.

"What is that?" Cam asked suspiciously.

"Diapers, duh!" Lullah commented from the sidelines, her bottom lip still sticking out as far as it could.

"Come here, grumpy," Hodgins laughed, picked her up and sat down with her in his lap next to Cam on the couch.

"It's a game. You open the diapers, smell what is inside and tell me what it is. If you get it right you get to open one of your presents. If you get it wrong you have to answer a question from this stack of question cards here," Kendra explained.

"Ok, three questions," Cam replied. "One: Is whatever is in those diapers sanitary otherwise I won't sniff it. Two: Does Jack have to play as well and three: Are those questions at least T rated?" she wanted to know, because she knew the stack of cards from several bachelorette parties and knew what kind of questions could be in there. Not questions she wanted to answer in front of her father or her co-workers.

"Just play along Cami and you'll see," Felicia laughed and handed the first diaper to Hodgins. He opened it, sniffed, then handed it to Cam.

"Peach ice tea?" she asked and he nodded. "Peach ice tea," she said again, louder.

"You're good," Kendra grinned and handed her the first gift.

"Should I open it now or later?" Cam asked them.

"Open them now, so we can all see it," Michelle insisted.

"Alright," Cam nodded and ripped the paper off the first present. "We have three pacifiers here," Cam said when she saw what was inside. She had just put the package down on the table when she was handed the next diaper.

"No idea," Hodgins shrugged. "Maybe soap?" he guessed.

"No idea either, let's just go with soap," she decided and told the others her answer.

"Nah, you lose," her aunt declared loudly and took a card from the stack of questions. "First question: Give us the initials of your baby's name," she read aloud.

"We won't tell you the name, forget it. Doesn't matter how many cards you draw," Cam rolled her eyes, suspecting that they were just using that game to get as much info as they wanted.

"Just the initials, Cami," her father piped up, curiosity written all over his face.

"J. S. H." she caved. "Same as Jack's," she added and looked at Jack, exchanging a smile with him.

"Three names, that's a lot," her great aunt mused.

"Two names, the 'H' is from the last name," Jack corrected.

"He won't be a Saroyan?" Cam's father gasped and seemed truly shocked.

"No, he won't. He will have his father's last name," she spelled it out for them so there wouldn't be any more doubts and questions.

"You could just get married, then you'd at least carry his name as well," her great aunt sighed deeply. She still was not over the fact that her great-niece was having a baby out of wedlock, at her age, and while she was living with the father of the child. Accidents could happen, she knew, but why these two just didn't want to get married was beyond her.

"Maybe I'd keep my last name anyway," Cam insisted and her aunt looked truly shocked.

"Next diaper," Jack said before Cam and her family could get into another fight.

"Urgh, what's that? That's disgusting," Cam exclaimed when she sniffed the next diaper.

"I'd go with vomit on this one," Jack nodded, not really impressed. He had been dumpster diving more than once for his job, so this was nothing.

"Wrong again. This is carrot, meat and potatoes, baby food," Kendra laughed about Cam's face.

"Ok, I know what he'll never eat," Cam shuddered.

"He shouldn't. With all the antidegradants in the food, even though they claim it's all natural... no kid should eat that. Just cook something, throw it in the blender and that's it," Hodgins gave his expert advice on the subject.

"That will be your job, honey," Cam grinned sweetly at him, a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Sure, you nurse him the first months of his life and then I'll feed him for the rest of his life. It's not like you'll have a chance but breastfeed him, considering you let water burn..." he grinned back and got the 'Really? You're messing with me' look in return, which didn't impress him.

"You didn't get it right, so here's the next question," Mr. Saroyan interrupted their bickering, not too comfortable with discussing breastfeeding. "How much weight have you gained so far?" he read aloud.

"Seriously?" Cam gasped.

"Just enough so she's not terribly underweight anymore," Jack muttered and this time she actually lightly slapped his chest.

"Come on, I gained nearly sixty pounds when I was pregnant with Tanesha. You surely can't beat that," Kendra encouraged her.

"So far about twenty pounds," Cam admitted and didn't look too happy about it.

"See, just enough," Jack said and took her hands in his.

* * *

By the end of the game they had won more presents than they had to answer questions, much to Cam's relief. They had been given a mobile for the bed, several pacifiers, bibs, diapers, burping cloths, baby socks, lots of onesies and stuffed animals.

"We also come bearing cake," her aunt announced when the game was finally over.

"Can the cake wait for one more second? There are some more presents to be unwrapped," Michelle stopped them and the family looked curiously at her. It was Jack's cue to get up and he left the room. "I knew you were in on this!"Cam yelled after him laughingly. He and Michelle came back after a moment carrying a large package which seemed to be kind of heavy. Then Michelle left again and came back with another huge present, one that resembled a toddler sized bonbon.

"Oh wow..." Cam muttered and took the smaller gift from Michelle. With the same impatience as before she tore the paper off and was presented with a body sized pregnancy pillow.

"We thought it might help you sleep better. And the sales woman said you can use it as a nursing pillow once he's here," Michelle shrugged when Cam looked intrigued at the pillow.

"Aw, thank you, honey," she smiled and held her arms out to Michelle. The teenager came into her arms and they hugged for a long moment.

"Now the big one," Jack said and Michelle helped her off the couch. The two conspirators looked like the cats that got the cream. "You just have to lift the box, it's not that heavy," he explained. The package had no bottom so she could easily lift the box up. Underneath she found a stroller with an integrated infant car seat.

"We hope green is alright. The blue one was just a bit too blue," Michelle said when Cam remained silent. The stroller was mostly black, but the padding in the car seat was cream colored with an olive green border.

"Holy shit, I always wanted one of those, but they are just unaffordable. $1200, just because it's a Bugaboo, is just a bit too much," Kendra knew.

"Bugaboo?" Hodgins asked. Sure, he had bought the stroller, but he had based his decision more on the functionality and the test results of the stroller, not so much on the name.

"It's like the Ferrari of strollers," Kendra explained for him.

"This kid will be so spoiled," Cam's father shook his head, understanding now that his potential son in law had bought his grandchild kind of a Ferrari even though he wasn't even born yet.

"Thank you," Cam said, placed her hand on Jack's cheek and kissed him softly.

"One less thing on our to do list," he tried to be modest, although he was smiling widely, happy that his surprise had been a success.

"Can we eat cake now?" Tallulah interrupted their moment and tugged on Cam's shirt.

"Sure you monster, we can eat cake now," Jack answered for her, picked the girl up, threw her over his shoulder and blew a raspberry on the side of her stomach where her shirt had ridden up.

"No, don't!" Tallulah screeched. "It tickles!"

"He's so good with them," Kendra said quietly to Cam. She had got up to admire the stroller, but now her eyes were on her laughing daughter. "If she could she would move in here today and never leave," she knew. "Last time we went to see Matt she said she didn't want to come, but visit Jack instead."

"She's always welcome here, Kendra," Cam replied just as quietly.

"I know. I just fear that she'll call Jack 'Dad' by the time Matt gets out of prison this time," her sister in law sighed.

"Not sure how Jack would feel about it, but I can't say I'd feel sorry for Matt. You two should stop messing up the lives of your kids and grow up. Or they'll end up like you. Do you really want that?" she asked.

"No," Kendra shook her head from side to side. "I want them to have a better life."

"Then start putting your money in their education and not in cigarettes, drugs and video games," Cam couldn't help but say. Kendra looked taken aback, but didn't seem angry about her honesty.

"He will most likely never understand how blessed he is," she said then and put a hand on Cam's stomach."Just as Michelle doesn't know how lucky she is you took her in, even when you had no obligation to do so."

"Michelle's my daughter and I don't expect gratitude. I love her and she loves me and that's enough," Cam replied and grinned when she felt her son kick. "Same will go for him."

"Cam you want cake, too? It's chocolate," Michelle asked and interrupted their serious talk.

"Can I say no to chocolate these days?" she replied with a smile and walked over to Michelle, Kendra following her.

"Could you ever, since you stopped smoking?" Michelle laughed in reply.

"God, don't remind me," Cam groaned, remembering the time when she had stopped, while being split from Jack. She had eaten more chocolate and had run more than ever before.

"You smoked? Are you crazy?" her father said angrily and she turned around slowly to face him.

"I stopped, Dad," she pointed out, knowing it wouldn't really help.

"You shouldn't have started in the first place!" he insisted. "Did you know about this?" he turned to Jack.

"Yup, I did," he chuckled, amused by the fact that her father was not too far away from grounding her during her own baby shower.

"And you didn't stop her? How can two educated people be such morons and play with their lives like that?" Mr. Saroyan fumed.

"Hey, I remember someone sitting in the living room smoking a cigar every night," Cam pointed out and sat back down on the couch.

"That's different," her father insisted.

"Unbelievable," Jack muttered and sat down beside her. "You might want to stay in there, son. Your mom's family is totally crazy," he whispered to her stomach and stole another kiss from Cam, before he watched the chaos around him again.

* * *

It was another two weeks later, at four o' clock in the morning, when he woke up because something seemed off. With his hand he sought out Cam, but she wasn't next to him in bed anymore. He wrinkled his forehead and opened his eyes in the darkness. For the last two weeks, ever since they had given her the pregnancy pillow she had slept like the dead, only sometimes getting up to pee. There was no light under the bathroom door though, so she must be somewhere else.

Quietly he walked into the hallway and checked the doors for light, but everything was dark. He went back to the bedroom to get himself a shirt before he walked downstairs. They were in December already and even the floor heating didn't stop him from feeling cold, now that he had just left the warm bed.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked her when he found her sitting in the armchair in the living room, a cup of tea in front of her and a book in her hand.

"Reading, I couldn't sleep anymore," she replied, but sounded tired.

"Something wrong?" he wanted to know and sat down on the ottoman in front of her.

"I'm having contractions," she admitted.

"Braxton Hicks?" he asked, knowing she had thought before that she was having contractions, but it had turned out to be false alarms each time.

"No, I think they're real this time. They start in the back and are increasing in strength," she admitted.

"How far apart are they?"

"About eighteen minutes," she replied and placed a hand on her stomach.

"Guess that means it still might take a while, huh?" he knew from the pregnancy books he had read.

"Yeah, probably all day," she sighed tiredly.

"I read a hot bath will help you to relax. Maybe you can even sleep afterwards for a bit more," he encouraged her.

"Sounds good," she smiled sleepily.

"Come on then, I'm gonna run you a bath," Jack said, got up and held out his hands so he could help her get up. Together they walked back into the connected bathroom of their bedroom and while Cam shed her clothes Jack filled the tub with warm water and bubble bath.

"You're coming in with me?" she asked and he knew by the tone of her voice that she wanted him with her.

"Sure," he replied and undressed, before he shut off the water and helped her in, then sat down behind her. She relaxed against him, her back resting against his chest.

"Ow," she muttered and tensed. Because his hands were resting on her belly he felt it tightening, becoming hard under his hands for about thirty seconds. Then she relaxed again and leaned more into him.

"Wow... guess we'll meet junior sometime soon," he grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Knew he wouldn't wait until his due date as soon as he dropped three days ago," Cam grinned and laced her fingers through his on top of her belly.

"Yeah and with that mucous thingy gone, too... it was clear he wouldn't wait another three weeks," he agreed.

"I'm glad," she admitted. "Not only am I sick of being pregnant and uncomfortable, but it will also be nice having him around for Christmas."

"Yeah, he will really be under the Christmas tree with us," he grinned at the mental image. "We just have to buy him some Christmas presents... we don't have any, because we thought he'd be born the week after," he thought out loud.

"He has a whole room of presents waiting for him, I doubt he will mind," Cam laughed. For a few more minutes they sat in the tub and enjoyed the warm water, before they got out, dried themselves off and re-dressed. The bath had relaxed them both and by the time she lay down in bed Cam could barely keep her eyes open. With Jack's arms slung around her she slept for another three hours, the contractions coming and going without her consciously acknowledging it. When she woke up, experiencing the first really painful contraction, she knew that they would get to meet their son that day.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

This is the, at least I think so, long awaited chapter. Ut's an early Christmas gift and I hope you all like it.

Give me something back by reviewing for once, please.

Merry Christmas!

* * *

**Chapter 6: A son**

"Good morning. You're up pretty early," Michelle greeted them when she came down that morning, her eyes barely open yet, and sat down at the table.

"We've been up for about two hours," Jack informed her and handed her the thermostat with hot water for her tea.

"Are you nuts, it's Saturday," Michelle shook her head in disbelief. "If I didn't have to go to dance practice today, I would still be sleeping."

"Wasn't like I had a choice," Cam admitted. "Your little brother seems to have decided that today is a good day to be born."

"What?" Michelle shrieked. "You're not in labor, are you?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Have been since three this morning," Cam confirmed.

"Then why are you still here and not in the hospital? I thought we all agreed that we don't want a home birth?" Michelle was getting upset and suddenly wide awake.

"The contractions are still fifteen minutes apart, so it will take a while, calm down," Cam chuckled, amused by her daughter's panic.

"Why am I panicking and you're not?" Michelle asked stunned.

"Because you're 17 and I'm the one who will finally be able to see her toes again?" Cam grinned, but then flinched when another contraction hit her. Quietly she breathed through it and was relieved when it was over.

"When will you go to the hospital?" Michelle asked them.

"Not before the contractions are ten minutes apart or my water breaks," she was told.

"Ok, I have to go now. Please call me when there's something new, ok?" she demanded.

"We will," Hodgins assured her.

"I love you. Don't die, ok?" Michelle said and hugged Cam, before she hurried out of the room.

"Don't die? What was that?" Jack asked surprised.

"Her mother died giving birth to her," Cam knew.

"Just the info I needed today," he grumped, but Cam took his hand in hers.

"I'm fine and so is he. Nothing will happen or go wrong, ok?" she reassured him.

"Pep talk or intuition?" he smiled knowingly.

"Intuition. I somehow just know that it'll be fine," Cam grinned back at him.

"So what do you want to do? You being in labor somewhat limits our options today."

"How about we go for a walk? It helps progress the birth and we wouldn't have to go far," Cam suggested.

"Ok," Jack nodded and kissed her, then got up and started clearing the breakfast table, while Cam went upstairs to change into something warmer.

* * *

"I don't think I've ever been here before," Cam said as they walked the premises of Jack's house. They were pretty far away from the house already, past the pond, basically already in the park. They had both huddled up in thick winter coats, scarves, gloves and caps and Cam had joked that she looked like the Michelin man, just with a more prominent middle.

"I used to hide out here as a kid, collected worms, took soil samples," he replied and looked around. "I think I had a tree house somewhere over there."

"And knowing you, you'll do it all again a few years from now," Cam grinned knowingly and moved closer to him.

"I can't wait," he grinned back and confirmed her suspicions. "But for now I'm looking forward to the baby phase. The crying, the diaper changes, the spit up," he went on and actually sounded dreamy.

"You make it sound so great," she chuckled and lay her head on his shoulder for a moment while they kept walking. "If I really breastfeed there won't be much you can do at first," she pointed out apologetically.

"Ha, there's so much I can do," he protested. "I can burp him and change him and bathe him and rock him to sleep. And if you pump I can even feed him at night."

"Ok, that last part really sounded weird," Cam admitted. She suddenly stopped walking, gripping his hand tighter and placed the other hand on her stomach.

"Ok, there weren't fifteen minutes in between this time," he knew, while she still focused on simply breathing and couldn't reply immediately.

"No," Cam said and breathed out slowly. "Only ten... if the next ones are also only ten minutes apart we're getting closer to D-day."

"I think the book said to go to the hospital once the time in between contractions is down to under ten minutes, or when the water breaks," he recited what he had learned.

"You really memorized that book, huh?" Cam teased him with a smile.

"With a crazy doctor as a girlfriend, who always downplays everything, one has to," he nodded matter of factly.

"Hey watch it! Better not be mean to me while I'm in labor. I can get away with everything right now," she threatened jokingly.

"So you will yell at me later," he knew.

"Maybe, I don't know. A friend of mine said that you're just in so much pain that you don't care anymore what you're saying. Just know whatever it is, I love you and that won't change," she comforted him.

"I love you, too, babe," he replied warmly and kissed her gently. "You wanna walk back?"

"Might be better. This contraction was pretty strong and I feel like lying down for a bit," Cam admitted.

"We've been wandering around for two hours and you should save your strength for later," Jack agreed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders again. "Are you scared?" he asked when they had taken the path back to the house and away from the park.

"Yeah, a bit of the pain," she admitted.

"If it gets too bad you can always get something for it," he said calmly and with conviction. He was amazed himself how calm they both still were, despite the fact that she was definitely in labor. He had always thought he'd run around like a headless chicken and wouldn't know what to do first, but here he was, calm, collected and encouraging. He hoped that he would be able to keep it up when the actual birth came closer and closer and his excitement grew.

"What suddenly bugs me more are the things we've had months to think about and never did," Cam revealed what was going on in her head.

"Like?"

"I'm not on maternity leave yet. Strictly speaking that means I have to go to work on Monday," she pointed out, regretting that she hadn't listened and had insisted on going on maternity leave after Christmas.

"Don't be ridiculous," Jack snorted and shook his head.

"And what about two weeks from now? Or two months? I can't be a stay at home mom; I need to work to keep my sanity. But who will look after him?" she asked and started to sound more and more panicked.

"Hey, calm down. I've been thinking about this for a while and decided that the Cantilever Group could make another donation for a daycare center at the Jeffersonian. I already checked with our personal office and they say that female employees have been requesting something like that for years, but there's never been enough money. Now there is," he shrugged.

"I can't believe you did that," Cam said with a toneless voice, her eyes large and round, staring disbelievingly at him.

"It will still take a while to set everything up, but I think when we really need it, by the time he can crawl, it should be ready," he shrugged unimpressed as if it was the most natural thing to do, to build a day care center when you needed one nearby.

"You have no idea how much I love you right now," Cam laughed teary eyed and truly touched. It was moments like this, when he did something so nice completely out of the blue, that she sometimes still couldn't believe that he was in love with her and doing them just to make her happy.

"Oh, more than usual? Give it a few more hours and you'll hate my guts," he tried to lighten the mood with humor, but kissed her softly anyway.

"I don't think it's your guts I'm gonna hate," she deadpanned with a raised eyebrow, her eyes focusing on his groin for a few seconds, which made him laugh.

"You think you'll be able to sleep when we get back?" he asked her, still chuckling a bit.

"I doubt it, but I'll at least lie down and relax for a while… as long as I still can," she replied and was a bit relieved when they walked up the driveway to the house. These last few hours of contractions had already worn her out a bit, especially since they had woke her up in the middle of the night. She knew that what she had been dealing with so far was mild compared to what would come later, but then again there was always the option of an epidural.

"You're lying down in the living room or upstairs?" he asked as he unlocked the door and led her in, with one hand on the small of her back.

"Upstairs, I want to lie down on the bed. And no matter what, before we go to the hospital I want to take another shower," Cam let him know.

"Wait up, I'm going with you," he said when she started climbing the stairs without him, while he was taking off his shoes.

"You're not gonna let me out of your sight until this is over, are you?" Cam sighed, but smiled when he caught up to her.

"Live with it," he didn't take her attempt at grumbling too serious. A few seconds later she was actually glad that he was with her, because another contraction hit her, stronger again than the last one.

"Oh God," she groaned and held on to him, using his shoulders to steady herself, while she felt him holding her close with a hand on her back so she couldn't fall down the stairs. Together they waited until the contraction was over and then resumed their way upstairs.

"You want me to get you some clothes to change into?" he asked her after he had helped her sit down on the bed.

"No, I don't want to change again. Would be the third time today. I'll change after I shower," she replied. "But you could untie my shoelaces for me, that would really help," she pointed out. It was hard getting shoes on and off these days, but ones with laces were impossible without help.

"Sure, baby," he simply said and kneeled down on the floor in front of her and took her shoes off for her. "You need anything else? Something to drink, to eat? Another pillow?" He made sure she had everything she needed.

"No, I'm good, but I thought you were staying here," Cam replied a bit confused.

"I just want to check your bag again, make sure I really didn't forget anything for junior," he shrugged.

"Jack, we checked that bag at least ten times," she pointed out while she slowly lay down on the bed, her belly resting on the comfortable pregnancy pillow he had bought for her.

"Can't check it often enough. Better safe than sorry," he replied and hurried out of the room before she could protest again.

"Guess Daddy is more nervous than he tries to let on. He always needs to work when he's nervous," Cam told her belly and stroked over it. "As much as I was cursing these last few weeks, I somehow think I'm gonna miss you being in there once you're on the outside," she went on. "Pregnancy wasn't that bad with you, you know? From what I've heard you went really easy on me. Now it's just one more hurdle and then we can finally see you." Her speech was rewarded with a strong kick directly in her hand and she rubbed over the spot and then tried to catch the foot, and rub over it hard enough so she'd get a reaction. Her efforts weren't successful though, because another contraction made her body go rigid. When it was over this time she moved over to the night stand where the notepad and the watch from last night were still lying. She wrote down the time of her last contraction and decided to time them from now on, so she'd know when it was time to go to the hospital.

* * *

Another hour later, shortly before three Cam nudged Jack, who sat beside her on the bed and read a book, while she dozed between contractions and monitoring them.

"Mmh?" he made and looked at her and away from his book.

"I'm down to seven minutes apart and they're getting really strong and painful. I'd feel better if we drove to the hospital," Cam admitted, still rubbing her stomach from the last painful contraction.

"I can tell, you're squeezing my hand so hard I lost feeling in my fingers," he said with a smile and closed the book. "You're ready?" he asked then and held out his hands to her to help her up.

"It's not like I have a choice," she muttered as she let him pull her up. "You get the bag?"

"Already downstairs," he grinned and held her hand while they walked downstairs, still afraid she could slip and fall.

"We have to text Michelle and tell her we're going to the hospital now," she remembered.

"Why don't you do that on the ride? And which shoes? Sneakers?" he replied.

"Yeah, the blue Nike's, at least they match my shirt," she nodded and sat down on the chair they had placed in the hallway simply so she could sit down to put on her shoes.

"Ok, then I think we got everything. I'll go and warm up the car while you put on your shoes," he informed her and handed them to her. It was already really cold out, a typical December in DC and even though the car was parked in the garage it would still be cold.

He didn't take the door from the basement to the garage, instead choosing to walk the few meters over to it. He opened the car, put the bag in and turned on the engine. Before he drove outside he took out his phone though and searched his phonebook for a number. When he had found it he pressed call and waited for someone to pick up. Phone pressed between shoulder and cheek he backed out of the garage while he waited for the person he wanted to talk to.

"Zack Addy," his friend answered.

"Zack, it's me, Hodgins," he said excitedly while he drove over to the house.

"That's what the nurse told me. Why are you calling? You never call," Zack pointed out.

"I just wanted to let you know that Cam's in labor and we're going to the hospital now," Hodgins said excitedly.

"Then why are you on the phone and not with her, letting her yell at you?" his friend replied.

"I'm just getting the car out of the garage," Hodgins rolled his eyes and stopped the car in front of the door. "Ok, here she comes, I have to go. I'll call you later when he's here," he hurried to say and then hung up again before Zack could reply.

"Who were you talking to?" Cam asked suspiciously, already fearing that he had called her father.

"Zack," he replied truthfully and waited until she had buckled her seatbelt before he set the car in motion again.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to call him once this is over?" she asked.

"Oh not you, too," he groaned in mock annoyance. " Can't I just call my best friend for the sole reason that I'm excited?"

"Of course you can." Cam patted his arm before she dug her cell phone out of her bag to send a text to Michelle. Another contraction stopped her a minute later though and all she could do was grip the door handle and wait for it to pass. "Epidural sounds better and better," she groaned once it was over.

"There'll be about three more of those before we reach the hospital. Then they can help you," Jack replied compassionately and took her left hand in his right.

"I better get the text message to Michelle, before another one hits me," she replied and gave his hand a light squeeze.

"You think she'll come to the hospital?" he wanted to know.

"I don't think so. I think she's still scared that something could go wrong. Maybe you can give her updates from time to time," Cam suggested while she was typing her message.

"Sure, I will. Anyone else you want me to call?"

"No, not really. We will call the rest after everything is over and we can call them together," she decided.

"Ok, I'll follow your lead," he grinned, knowing he didn't have another choice anyway.

"Good to know you'll do what you're told for once," she teased him. He didn't reply with words, but just grinned. "Jack, we should have taken my car," she said suddenly and the smile on her face was gone.

"Why? You forgot something?" he was confused and looked at her for a moment, before concentrating back on the traffic. She didn't answer his question though and instead jumped to the next concern she had. Any other time he would have dug deeper, but this wasn't the time it.

"I just thought of all those movies where the woman has the kid in the car in a traffic jam or something," she admitted and he knew this was her way of freaking out... or the pre-stages to it.

"There are no traffic jams at this time of day. And even if there were there are exits we could pull off and take another route," he tried to calm her.

"It would be such a mess just from my water breaking in here," she said and her eyes got wider with her rising panic.

"Baby, don't worry. Everything will be fine and there's nothing that can't be cleaned up, ok?" he said insistently. "You just concentrate on breathing through your contractions and let me worry about the rest." When she simply nodded and didn't protest, he knew that she was more scared and nervous than she tried to let him see. She might be the doctor in the car, but at the moment, that meant nothing. At the moment she was simply a mother giving birth for the first time in her life- and he was her partner and had to be there for her.

* * *

After they had checked Cam in and filled out the necessary paper work they were lead into an examination room. The nervousness they had both felt while being in the car had disappeared as soon as the nurse had taken the lead and had told them what to do and where to go.

"Please take off your shirt and lie down. I will hook you up to the tocograph and the phonocardiograph. The doctor will be with you in a few minutes," the nurse instructed. Cam pulled her green long sleeved shirt over her head and handed it to Jack, who already held the bag and her jacket, scarf and handbag.

Cam lay down on the examination table and waited as the nurse placed the contacts on her stomach. She already knew the process from her own gynecologist. As soon as Nurse Richards switched on the machines the sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the room, fast but steady.

Jack walked over to his girlfriend, placed the several items he held on a chair beside the table and took her hand. He knew that she was counting the heart beats per minute, because she always did.

"And?" he asked her with a smile once he knew she was done and her face showed that everything was just fine.

"Everything's alright. He doesn't seem too stressed yet," she knew from the heartbeat.

"You're a doctor?" the nurse asked Cam curiously, because Hodgins had left out their titles in the paperwork, just as he always did when he wasn't somewhere for business.

"Yes, I'm an M.E.," Cam nodded and then scrunched up her face and tightly squeezed Jack's hand as her stomach became hard again. She gave a groan halfway through it, which led Jack to the right conclusion that she had just hit another pain level.

"Just stay put, keep breathing and the doctor will be with you soon," the nurse told her once it was over and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Honestly, I wouldn't mind if he stayed in there," Cam sighed once they were alone.

"You should ask the doctor for the epidural," he replied and sat down next to her.

"If it doesn't get much worse then I think I'll make it like this. The less drugs and crap I need the earlier we can go home," she pointed out.

"I don't want you to suffer unnecessarily, simply because you have your mind set on going home today," he protested. Cam only pouted, but didn't reply so he chose to change the topic. "Can I get you anything? Something to drink maybe?"

"A glass of water would be nice," she nodded.

"I packed two water bottles with that sports top, thought maybe they could come in handy," he replied and pulled a bottle of water out of the side pocket of the bag.

"You really thought of everything," she smiled appreciatively.

"Every time I checked the bag something else came to mind," he admitted.

"I'm glad you didn't use the complete Luis Vuitton travel set," she mocked him.

"Hey, I don't even own one. You on the other hand... totally different story," he replied and hoped that their teasing banter would help her to relax. She took small sips of water and then handed the bottle back to him.

"Could you hand me the pillow over there?" she asked him and pointed to a neck roll which was lying on another chair.

"Sure," he replied and got it for her. He helped her adjust it under her head and just as they were done another contraction hit. This time it seemed to her as if it took forever. The 30 second ones were definitely over.

"Dr. Saroyan. I hear we have a colleague in the house," the doctor who entered said and to Hodgins big relief it was a woman in her fifties. He still wasn't over the fact that Paul had asked Cam out and although he had become a friend, that made him suspicious of all male gynecologists. "My name is Dr. Edelstein," she introduced herself and they shook hands.

"I can't really say I know what I'm doing here," Cam replied with a smile that still showed that she was uncomfortable.

"I've had women in here who have just given birth to their sixth or seventh child and they said the same. It's different every time. I understand this is your first child," the doctor replied and looked at the print outs from the machines.

"Yes," Cam only confirmed.

"Everything looks great, don't worry. And I don't have to send you home again - you're definitely in labor. Contractions are about 5 minutes apart and your baby is doing fine. When did you have the first contractions?"

"I woke up around three this morning."

"Twelve hours, that's not too bad. If you'll go ahead and take off your pants for me, I'll check your dilation," Dr. Edelstein told them and Jack helped Cam sit up. He placed her pants and panties on the pile with her other clothes while the doctor put the stirrups into place and electrically propped up the table so it looked like an ob-gyn chair.

"Is it ok if I go to the bathroom after we're done here?" Cam asked while the doctor got ready and put on her gloves.

"I'd even advise you to. Once you're in active labor, there won't be a chance anymore, because the risk of infection is too high," Dr. Edelstein answered. "Ok, this might be cold and uncomfortable for a moment," she said then, but Cam wasn't really feeling much, after the last painful contraction. "You might know this, but until maybe five years ago it was common to give women enemas right before the birth. It turned out to be unnecessary stress for the woman and the unborn child, though, so we stopped that practice," the doctor went on while she examined Cam.

When Jack felt Cam pressing her forehead against his arm he thought she was in pain, but once he saw the blush on her cheeks he knew she was fine for the moment.

"If I didn't know what you do for work, I'd be truly embarrassed right now," she said, although it was obvious she still was.

Chuckling he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Silly woman."

"May I ask what it is you do Mr. Hodgins?" the doctor asked him and he was impressed that she remembered his name.

"I'm an entomologist at the Jeffersonian," Jack replied, still holding Cam's hand.

"Oh now I know where I know your name from," the doctor said with a smile. "You're the head of the forensics department, Dr. Saroyan. A while ago I read an article about your team and your work with the FBI," she knew.

"Yes, that would be me. Although our anthropologist Dr. Brennan is more responsible for that co-operation than me," Cam admitted.

"But you're the boss," the older woman shrugged unimpressed and then went back to the topic at hand. "You're five centimeters dilated, which means it should go a lot quicker now that you're in active labor." She took off her gloves and helped Cam get her feet out of the stirrups again. "I will take these off now and have a nurse show you the delivery room. A midwife will check on you and we probably won't see each other again until after the birth. I wish you all the best," she said warmly and shook their hands again.

"Panties?" Hodgins knew when he saw Cam's look once the doctor had taken off the monitoring devices and had left the room.

"Please, and my shirt," Cam nodded. "Not that it'll help much. Decency goes out the window once you have I don't know how many people staring at your privates during labor and birth," she grumbled while she dressed.

"I somehow doubt you'll care later about how many people there are," he had the guts to point out and only the next contraction saved him from some angry comment.

* * *

Once Cam had visited the bathroom and the nurse had shown them the way over in the delivery room and the midwife had given them some final instructions, they were left alone and to Hodgins big surprise Cam wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned her forehead against his shoulder and melted into him - as much as she could.

"Anything I can do?" he asked her quietly and hugged her to him, his fingers playing with the loose strands of her hair that had escaped her ponytail.

"My back is killing me," she admitted and tried swaying from side to side, but stopped after a moment. "And my legs, too."

"I could try some of the massage moves we learned in Lamaze class," he proposed and nuzzled his nose against her ear.

"Try it, I'll tell you if it helps," she muttered. "But don't make me move," she added and lay her cheek against his shoulder, hiding her face in his neck.

"How about this?" he asked and let his fingers glide down along her spine in the middle of her back.

"No, I hate that," she grumbled and he was taken aback by her reaction for a moment until he felt her gripping him and knew that another contraction had set in. They were barely 4 minutes apart now and seemed to last longer as well.

"How's that?" he asked once it was over and she relaxed again. He pressed the heels of his hands into her lower back with just enough pressure so that she wouldn't be pushed down onto the floor.

"Oh yes, right there," she moaned into his neck and any other day he would have made a joke about how that had just sounded. This day however he just kept the pressure steady and dug the heels of his hands deeper into her back, trying to ease her pain. They stayed that way for a while and by the time she stood back up straight he had helped her through five more contractions and was kind of proud of it.

"Ok, Miss Saroyan, let's see if there's progress," the midwife interrupted Cam from whatever she had wanted to do. Cam just sighed, and let him help her waddle over to the chair.

"Jack, can you text Michelle again?" Cam asked him while she stepped out of her pants again.

"Sure, babe," he nodded and took his cell out of his jeans pocket.

"Seven centimeters, this is coming along great," the midwife said while she was still checking her. "The baby is doing fine, too. You want something for the pain, dear?" she asked Cam.

"No, I'm good for now," Cam declined the treatment she had wished for earlier that day.

"Ok, doll, I leave you again, but if you need anything don't hesitate to ring for me. I'll be back in half an hour tops," she smiled at Cam, who didn't have the energy to smile back.

"You want to stay on there or stand back up?" Hodgins asked her and put his cell back in his jeans pocket.

"Stand... walk... this is uncomfortable," she admitted. "And can you help me change into your shirt I put in the bag?" she asked him.

"You put one of my shirts in?" he asked surprised, but found the plaid shirt on the bottom of the bag once he looked.

"It doesn't make much sense anymore to take my pants on and off all the time, but I refuse to wear one of those hospital gowns. Especially while I'm walking around here and every five minutes someone else comes in wanting something," she complained and he decided it was wisest to remain silent. Her mood had darkened with every contraction and her exhaustion and soreness were rising. Quietly he helped her change, for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

For the next half hour they kept walking around the room, only stopping whenever another painful contraction came - by now they were only 3 minutes apart and she gritted her teeth so she wouldn't scream out in pain. Hodgins was sure he would have bruises on his shoulders, arms and hands, because she gripped them to steady herself every time. She tried the ball, but found that sitting down didn't help and the rope was useless to her, because it was more comfortable to hold on to Jack than to a rope hanging from the ceiling. The tub looked inviting, but something kept her from trying it.

Every three minutes she felt her whole middle tightening up. It was like a horrible menstrual cramp and a back spasm combined and from time to time she wanted to scream out, but simply couldn't find the energy to do it. They were at the hospital for nearly three hours when she asked Jack for the time, which meant she had been in labor for close to fifteen hours – she'd really had enough at that point.

"Jack, do something, make it stop," she whined uncharacteristically and buried her sweaty face in his shoulder once again.

"I would if I could, baby," he replied and sounded apologetic.

"If you ever talk about another baby, I'll make sure you go through this same pain before we talk again," she threatened.

"Duly noted," he nodded and kissed her forehead.

"Shit, here it comes again," she sobbed and tried to breathe through the pain. What had seemed ridiculous during the childbirth class now really helped her through the pain. "Oh no," she said once the pain lessened and she became aware of a wetness between her thighs and on her legs.

"I think your water just broke," Hodgins knew and looked down at the small puddle Cam was standing in.

"It keeps coming," Cam noticed bluntly, feeling herself still 'leaking'.

"Can you step over it, I'll get you a towel," he offered and with just a nod she accepted, knowing it would make her feel at least a bit better. Gently he led her over back to the bed, which she used to lean her arms down on. She didn't even care anymore that her boyfriend was drying her feet and legs from the amniotic fluid or that he then pressed the towel between her legs. What she didn't know was that he had rang for the nurse in the meantime.

"Her water broke," he said and pointed to the puddle when the nurse entered then went back to applying pressure to her lower back with one hand, while he held the towel in place with the other.

"I'll get the midwife and clean up, don't worry," the nurse smiled and he was reminded that they saw this several times a day and for them it was probably as normal as maggots were for him.

"Jack, I need to lie down," Cam said once the nurse had gone again.

"Ok, come here, I'll help you," he told her and carefully helped her stand back up straight and then get on the bed. They had just managed that task when the midwife came back in.

"I hear your water broke. Let's see how far you're dilated and what your son is doing," she said and Cam was glad that she didn't have to lift her legs into the stirrups this time.

"You're nearly there, sweetheart. Nine centimeters, just one more. I'll get everything ready and then you should be able to push," she gave Cam the necessary prep talk while Hodgins used the time to wipe Cam's face with a cool wash cloth.

The next minutes passed for Cam in a blur. The contractions became even stronger and she felt the need to push already, but knew she shouldn't. She somehow registered that nurses came in and placed several items around the bed, placed towels and cloths underneath her, put on gloves, placed towels on the cart close to her bed... she focused on these small things and on Jack's hand in hers while the pain became excruciating during the transition.

"Start pushing now, honey." The midwife's words reached her through a fog of pain and with a scream that gave her a small burst of energy she started pushing her son out of her body.

"Oh God, when will this be over?" Cam cursed and let herself fall back onto the bed. She was exhausted, sweaty and in constant pain. The contractions felt like they weren't stopping anymore and she wished she had taken the painkillers. She didn't care anymore if she was screaming in pain - she just wanted it to be over.

"He's crowning, love, I can already see his head," her midwife, whose name was Rosie as it turned out, told her.

"Just get him out, I don't want to anymore," she whined in the few seconds she could rest between the contractions.

"Now, you wait for the next contraction and give a big push and we're nearly there," Rosie encouraged.

"Jack," she sobbed like he could make it stop.

"I'm right here, babe. You're doing great," he told her and gave her hands a squeeze, hoping he didn't squeeze too hard because she had pressed out all feelings by now and his hands were just numb.

"And push, sweetie," Rosie said when the next contraction came. With one hand on her back Jack helped Cam lean forward, which seemed to help her, and held her hand with his other. Again she gritted her teeth, leaned forward and pushed with all her might while feeling like her lower body was being ripped apart.

"The head's here, the worst part is over," Rosie encouraged her. "Take another deep breath and push again," she instructed, while the contraction was still going strong. With another groan and the energy that came from sheer desperation she pushed again. She felt the midwife pulling as well and after what seemed like another eternity to her it was finally over and she had made it. "December 11th 2010, 6:05 pm and he's here." Their son was born.

* * *

They both craned their necks to see him while the midwife cleared his airways. Just a second later his first cry could be heard loud and clear.

"You don't like that, honey," the midwife chuckled when the baby scrunched up his face and wailed angrily. "This belongs to you. Congratulations," she turned to his parents, pushed Cam's shirt up to her chin and placed her wet, bloody and screaming son on her chest.

Immediately their eyes were drawn to the screaming bundle and both smiled without realizing it.

"He's here," Jack said in wonder and placed his hand on top of hers on the back of their son, then placed a loving kiss on her forehead, then her lips.

Cam looked down to her chest where her squirming son was lying. Carefully she placed another hand on his back and held him against her while his cries got quieter and finally died down to a soft whimpering. The nurse placed a towel over him and Cam wrapped it loosely around him and dried him off as much as she could.

"Oh wow," she whispered overwhelmed while she stared at him, the feeling of a love so intense rushing through her that it took her breath away for a moment. Jack was equally stunned and pressed his lips to her forehead again.

"You want to cut the umbilical cord?" the midwife asked Hodgins, who only nodded.

"Hey, baby, can you look up, honey and let me see you?" Cam cooed at her son, who still had his face buried in her chest. "Joshua," she called him softly and carefully held him up in front of her when they were done with the umbilical cord, so they could add the clip. When she turned him around she was finally able to see her son's face for the first time. Cam studied him carefully taking in all the wrinkles, the rosy skin, his large blue eyes and small nose. Slowly a smile formed on her face before she started chuckling and finally broke out in laughter, still holding her son up in front of her. She was shaking with unfiltered laughter as she placed him on her chest again and held him against her while she laughed loudly. She barely registered that she was going through the afterbirth meanwhile and the birth was finally over.

"What?" Jack asked confused, but had to laugh with her, although he didn't know what this was all about.

"Look at him." Cam just couldn't stop and wiped the tears of joy, love and amusement away with one hand, then turned him around so he was cradled sideways against her chest and Jack could see him. He looked at his son, trying to find out what was amusing her so, but he couldn't find anything.

"What? He doesn't have two noses or anything," he shrugged and lovingly stroked over Joshua's cheek with a finger.

"Jack, he looks just like you," she pointed out and started laughing again. He had his eyes, his mouth, his chin and even the shape of his face was like his. The only thing he might have inherited from her, besides her dark hair and the slightly darker skin, was his nose, but that was yet to be determined. Even his forehead, his long lashes and the bows of his eyebrows were all Jack Hodgins.

"You're right," one of the nurses agreed with her and had to laugh as well.

"I don't see it," Hodgins shrugged helplessly and tried to see the similarities between him and his son. Fact of the matter was, while he was the cutest baby he had ever seen, he couldn't say that he thought he really resembled anyone, besides having Cam's hair color. "He has your dark hair," he pointed out just to disagree. "You have one crazy mommy," he told his son then and placed a kiss on his tiny cheek.

"We're gonna clean him up and check him and then bring him right back," the nurse interrupted before Cam could say anything. "Don't worry, it's not like we could confuse him with some other baby," the nurse smiled and grinned at Cam, who started laughing again. As soon as they lifted him out of her arms he made his discontentment known by first whimpering and then crying again.

"We won't need the baby monitor. Not a chance that we _won't_ hear him," Jack grinned proudly and took her hands in his. "I'm so proud of you... I doubt I could love you more than right this moment," he told her quietly and leaned his forehead against Cam's.

"After what I just went through you better," she laughed.

"I love you," he just replied and kissed her. This time it wasn't just a peck on the lips or a brush against her cheek. This time he made it last and poured the happiness he felt into the kiss, while still keeping it chaste for the sake of their audience.

"Little Joshua here is 50 cm long and weighs 3070 grams, that's a lot considering he's a bit early," the nurse let them know.

"That's what? 6.7 pounds and 19.7 inches?" Hodgins calculated in his head and nodded appreciatively.

"Actually, I would have preferred it if he'd been a bit smaller," Cam rolled her eyes at his pride.

"Be happy he didn't make it to full term," he reminded her.

"Here you go," the nurse smiled at their exchange and handed Cam their son back. She hadn't dressed him yet; just had him wrapped in another towel and a blanket and had cleaned him up a little. Again he quieted once she held him.

"Everything is fine, he is healthy, the reflexes are all there," the midwife went on. "If you want you can give him a bath in a few minutes when he has calmed down a bit," she turned to Hodgins.

"Sure... absolutely," he stuttered, but beamed happily.

"And I will give you a condom filled with ice cubes now. It might be a bit uncomfortable at first, but it will help with the swelling and the healing. Just take it out if it gets too uncomfortable, ok?" she turned to Cam, who only nodded. "If you want you can try getting him to nurse while you're still here," she proposed.

"He's already hungry?" Cam asked surprised.

"Maybe. Some kids are. But we can try and if he's not we can just try again later. Only if you want," Rosie smiled.

"No, it's a good idea. New mom here," Cam smiled back gratefully.

"Ok, you can hold him whatever way is the most comfortable for you, you just have to make sure he opens wide and latches on completely. If he gets too much air he'll have gestational problems," Rosie explained and held Joshua's head with one hand while she brought him closer. "He knows what to do. See, he opens when he gets close and now you just push him forward a bit," she showed her. Joshua did what she said, but after he had barely started suckling and hadn't got anything yet, he yawned widely and the contact was lost.

"Seems he's more interested in sleep than in food at the moment," Cam grinned.

"Dad, I think you should bathe him then, before he falls asleep and we have to wake him up. That usually makes for a really grouchy kid, you might want to remember that," Rosie smiled and watched as Jack carefully took his son from Cam and cradled him in his arms.

"Is it ok if I take a shower once I'm in my normal room?" Cam asked the nurse who was cleaning up around her.

"Sure. Just don't apply any strong smelling lotions to your breasts if you want to nurse. The kids don't like the taste," she nodded.

"Thanks," Cam said relieved and then relaxed against the bed and watched Hodgins bathe Joshua at the other end of the room.

* * *

"How did you do that?" Cam asked Jack after she was settled in her own room and had taken a shower and Joshua was lying in Jack's arms, who sat next to her on her bed. With one finger she traced the features of her son, grinning when he wrinkled his nose whenever her finger ran over the bridge.

"If I remember correctly you were there as well," Hodgins just grinned and stroked over his son's fuzzy black hair.

"He'll have curls, I'm sure of that," Cam commented. "And I really can't believe how much he looks like you. Add some stubble and take away the chubby cheeks and you could look into a mirror," she pointed out again.

"I still don't see it. And I like his chubby cheeks," Jack grinned. Quietly they kept watching their son for a while, Cam resting her head against Jack's shoulder. "How's the pain?" he asked her and broke the silence.

"Better. I'm just sore and exhausted, but nothing compared to before. The ice chips helped a lot," she replied and grinned when she saw that her son was smacking his lips and seemed to suckle in his sleep.

"He's dreaming of food, it seems," Jack smiled as well when he saw it.

"Oh, I could eat as well," Cam sighed. "When the nurse brought him to me earlier after his bath, while you were calling Michelle, we tried to get him to nurse again, but he just fell asleep."

"I'm sure he'll be hungry when he wakes up this time. I'll get you something or do you want to wait for the hospital food?" he asked her.

"No, I could definitely eat. You think you can get those fruit cups somewhere nearby?" she replied. "And I was meaning to talk to you about the hospital. I haven't talked to the doctor yet, but if everything's alright I don't see a point in staying here. Josh is fine, I am sore, but otherwise ok and I'd like to have him and you close all night and not leave him in the nursery and have to send you home," she said.

"I'd like that, too, but don't you think it's a bit dangerous? What if there are complications?" he wondered.

"Then we or you will notice that much sooner than if I stay here. There's one nurse for all the babies at night and another one for all the patients. It's not like they are monitoring me or Josh," Cam shook her head and giggled as Joshua scrunched up his face in his sleep and seemed to cry without making a sound, his eyes still closed.

"If the doctor's ok with it, then I'm happy to take you home with me," Jack nodded and kissed her softly. "Little mister here is getting fussy," he said when he pulled back and looked down at the baby, who still had his eyes closed, but was moving more. Cam reached over and stroked with her index finger over his small lips and grinned when he opened his mouth and started sucking on her finger.

"He'll be up and hungry soon," she laughed and let him suckle on her finger some more.

"You're such a natural," Hodgins said softly and kissed her cheek after watching her for a moment.

"I've had some experience with all my nieces and nephews. And he suits you, too," she grinned and kissed him for real. Just as they deepened their kiss Joshua decided that he wasn't ok with his mother's finger anymore and woke up, starting to wail loudly instantly.

"He's not hungry, he's starving," Jack laughed as he watched his son squirming in his arms, his cries getting louder and louder.

"Ok, then let's try this nursing thing again," Cam laughed and pulled up her shirt before she took the baby from Jack. After the birth she hadn't put on a bra yet, the shirt and wide sweatpants all she could tolerate on her sore body for now. "You know, screamy, we tried to feed you twice before, you chose sleep," she lectured her son gently and positioned him as the nurse had shown her. Like before with her finger it only took a second until he opened his mouth wide and then latched on, starting to nurse hungrily. "See, now that's better," she smiled when she felt him sucking for real this time.

"Seems like he knows what to do," Hodgins commented and watched curiously as his son sucked away, a serious expression on his tiny face.

"That makes one of us," Cam chuckled and caressed her son's cheek.

"Does it hurt?" Hodgins asked curiously, seeing how strongly the infant sucked on his mother's breast.

"No, it's just… strange," she shook her head.

"Ok, while you two are busy, I'm gonna go and see what I can do about your food. Anything you can't eat now?" he asked and got off the bed and put his shoes back on.

"Fruit should be ok," she replied and looked up at him.

"Then see you in a few," Hodgins nodded and kissed her, then placed a kiss on his son's hair before he left.

* * *

When he came back he found Cam out of bed, moving slowly around the room with Joshua on her arm, making her way over to the small changing table in the corner of the room.

"Supper over?" he asked her as she placed the boy on the table.

"Yup, nothing left, he needs to wait or take formula if he's still hungry," Cam replied and opened the onesie slowly.

"Shouldn't there be enough milk for him?" Hodgins wondered, placing her cup with fruit on her night stand.

"There will be. It's a question of demand. And judging by his appetite today I'd say I'll have to buy bigger nursing bras if he keeps it up. They'll be huge," she shook her head and opened the diaper.

"You surely won't hear me complain," Hodgins chuckled and came up beside her. "You want me to take over so you can eat?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, I won't let that chance pass," she nodded and stepped aside. "Just pay attention, he got the nurse earlier," she warned him before she slowly made her way back to her bed and sat down with a groan.

"You peed on the mean, old nurse? Now, that's my son, not caring about authorities," Jack grinned proudly.

"She wasn't mean and she's about ten years younger than me," Cam rolled her eyes and started eating her fruit. "She said that we should keep him covered as much as possible while changing him, so he won't be as lethal. Something to do with cold air," Cam said after swallowing the first piece of water melon.

"Oh yeah, cold air is bad," Hodgins nodded sympathetically and expertly closed the fresh diaper. "There you go, son," he said and picked him up. He placed him so the baby's back was resting against his forearm, his head in the palm of his hand. He held him like this for a while, his eyes roaming over the baby, taking in every detail. Joshua was looking back, so it seemed, his eyes wide open, blinking from time to time. Cam watched the scene with a smile from her bed as she kept eating. Once he had sufficiently analyzed his son Jack took him up in his arms, letting his head rest against his shoulder. He nuzzled his nose against his son's head, placing kisses on his tiny cheek and head and took in the baby smell with closed eyes. He opened them when he heard a noise from the bed and found Cam with the camera in her hand, with which she had just taken a picture of father and son.

"So cute," she said to tease him and went back to her fruit.

"Let's get you dressed again before you fall asleep," Hodgins told the baby and brushed Cam's comment off, which made her grin again. He slowly dressed him, careful not to hurt him. When he was finally done Joshua had decided that he had enough and started whimpering. While Cam finished her meal Hodgins tried to calm him, but the whimpers got louder and after a few minutes he started crying. "You think he's hungry again?" Jack asked Cam and hurried over to her.

"I don't know, but I doubt it," she said and placed Joshua against her, so his head was resting on her chest. It only took a few seconds and he calmed down, moving his tiny fist against the skin of her chest.

"He wanted his mommy," Jack smiled softly and rubbed his back.

"He knows the sound of my heartbeat and my scent, that's what calms him," Cam replied.

"I know the feeling," he smiled and kissed her again.

"He seems to like it when you rub his back," Cam said quietly after they broke the kiss. She saw that Joshua's eyes were closed. After another moment the boy sighed softly and seemed to surrender to sleep. Jack and Cam just smiled at each other, both so in love with their son.

**TBC

* * *

**

**I have read a lot of baby stories and sadly the ones that are somewhat realistic are rare. I did my best to make it better, even if that means that it's graphic and messy for some parts. I hope you don't mind.**

**So, please welcome the new addition: Joshua Samuel Hodgins.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Changes**

"Jack! How's Cam, how's…" Michelle came running out of the living room into the hallway, expecting to see Hodgins - and only him. She stopped when she saw Cam coming in behind him while he carried the car seat with the sleeping new addition to the family.

"I'm fine," Cam replied for Hodgins and smiled at Michelle.

"Cam!" Michelle exclaimed happily and surprised, and hugged her mother.

"Oof," Cam only made when Michelle more or less slammed into her. "Careful honey, I just pushed this guy out of me less than five hours ago," she told her daughter, but hugged her back.

"You're really ok? What are you doing here already?" Michelle wanted to know and pulled back a bit.

"We're both tired but fine and I thought it'd be nicer to be home than stay unnecessarily at the hospital," Cam shrugged. Michelle looked at her for another moment to check if she was really ok, before she turned her attention to her baby brother.

"Welcome home," she said quietly and stroked over his cheek. He didn't even stir, but kept sleeping. "He really does look like you, Dr. H.," Michelle laughed when she took another look at the infant. "Congratulations," she added then and hugged Hodgins as well.

"Thank you. Congrats to you, too. How does it feel to be a big sister?" he asked her.

"I'll tell you tomorrow when I've had the opportunity to get to know him," Michelle grinned.

"You can take him out of his seat if you want. I think we dressed him a bit too warm for inside," Cam told her and stepped out of the sneakers she wore.

"Nah, I might crush him," Michelle shook her head and sounded unsure. Cam only grinned and Hodgins placed the seat on the ground and crouched down in front of it.

"Let's get you comfy, son," he said and carefully took off the jacket Joshua wore and the tiny shoes, so he was left in his jeans, blue button up shirt and brown flat-cap he wore. He didn't react when Jack took him out of the seat and cradled him against his chest.

"Seems like when he's out, he's out," Michelle observed.

"Here, take him so I can take off my jacket," Hodgins decided and handed her the baby before she could protest. Carefully she held him and watched her baby brother while he just kept snoozing.

"He looks lighter than he is," she said after a moment and readjusted him slightly.

"He isn't the smallest baby. After they told me he was over 6 pounds while still being early, I knew why my back and feet were killing me," Cam said in agreement and slowly got up from the chair she sat on.

"Sumo baby," Michelle giggled.

"You want to lie down and sleep? If he keeps his rhythm he should be up for another meal in about an hour," Jack turned to Cam and put the car seat in the hallway closet.

"Good idea. We can roll the bassinet over into the bedroom and put him in there. Then I won't have to get up," Cam nodded and walked to the stairs, wrapping an arm around Michelle's shoulder when she went past her. "You're coming with me? Change him and put him to bed?" she asked the teen.

"It's not like I have a choice since I'm carrying him," Michelle replied, but smiled.

"Leave the bassinet, I'll do it. I'm just gonna get your bag from the car," Jack told Cam, who nodded.

"So, how bad was it? Giving birth, I mean," Michelle asked once Cam had taken Joshua and placed him on the changing table for another diaper and clothes change.

"Ask me again tomorrow, when I've forgotten about the pain," Cam grinned.

"You're still in pain? 'Cause you move like a snail," her daughter pointed out.

"No, just really sore. As I said, he wasn't the smallest baby and he has kind of a big head," Cam grinned. Just then Joshua whimpered in his sleep, while Cam was undressing him. "Sorry, honey, but it's true," she laughed when she saw it. He quieted again and kept sleeping while she changed him and then put him in one of his pajamas they had bought.

"And he's ok? Ten fingers and toes and everything?" Michelle asked then.

"Everything is fine. He has a slight neonatal jaundice, but that's nothing to worry about," Cam assured her. "You think we did ok?" she asked Michelle then and looked at her son, her head cocked to the side.

"I think you did very well. He's really cute and I can't wait to see him awake," Michelle laughed at her mother's question.

"You're coming with me, maybe watch a movie? I want to pass the time until his next feeding in an hour and go to sleep afterwards. So far he has never waited longer than two hours for his next meal," Cam asked Michelle and picked up Joshua again.

"He's gonna be so chubby and cute. Little roly-poly," Michelle grinned and followed her mother out of the nursery and into the master bedroom.

"Hey, now that's enough," Cam warned, but laughed. "Don't listen to your sister, Josh," she stage whispered to the baby who was still sleeping.

"Ooh, the lioness protects her cub," Michelle teased and flopped down on the bed, taking the remote with her.

"Why what did you do? Play the mean hyena?" Hodgins asked when he stuck his head into the bedroom, having heard parts of their conversation.

"She called Josh a roly-poly," Cam told him and sat down on the bed then slowly leaned back, placing her son on her chest.

"Personally I prefer Hodge-podge for him," Jack grinned and made both women laugh.

"Poor kid, the nicknames they give you," Cam chuckled.

"You started it, he just carries on the tradition," Hodgins laughed and then walked off to get the crib.

"How long has he been sleeping?" Michelle asked while she flipped through the channels.

"An hour, maybe a bit more," Cam replied and finally took the remote from her, when she couldn't stand it anymore. "I wanted to see one movie, not a dozen at the same time," she told her when she protested.

"Which one? There's nothing on," Michelle complained.

"Then go and get a DVD, something child friendly," Cam grinned and Michele took off muttering under her breath about kids movies. Cam smiled, knowing that it was Michelle's way of dealing with the new situation. Joshua took a deep breath just then and sighed loudly in his sleep. "Right you are, baby boy, better to just sigh and not say anything when she's like that," Cam said softly and kissed his cheek, letting her lips linger on his skin. "My baby," she whispered and still couldn't believe that he was really hers. "Welcome home, Josh," she said then and placed another kiss on his forehead.

"So, here's the bassinet," Jack interrupted her moment of silent cuddling and placed the bed next to her side. Slowly she handed the baby over to her man, so she wouldn't have to sit up completely. Jack took him, but instead of lying him down in his bed, he kept him in his arms. He seemed to fight with himself and Cam watched him with a knowing smile.

"There's nothing wrong with you just keeping him in your arms," she said finally, just as he had decided with a sigh to place Josh in the bassinet.

"I don't want him to feel left out," Hodgins justified his reluctance more to himself, but grinned and walked to his side of the bed, where he lay down.

"It's getting a bit crowded. You sure you wanna watch a movie?" Michelle asked when she came back a second later and looked skeptically at the bed. Cam and Hodgins were both occupying their sides, while Josh kept snoozing on his father's chest.

"Don't be silly. Put the movie in and get in here. You still fit in the middle," Cam shook her head at Michelle's hesitation. "What have you got?" she then wanted to know and pointed at the DVD.

"Dickens' A Christmas Carol," Michelle informed them. "Now that Josh is here we can start getting in the Christmas spirit. If he were a bit smaller I'd say we could put him on the Christmas tree as decoration," she teased.

"And there goes a potential baby sitter," Hodgins deadpanned.

"What? Put him in red pjs, place a cap on his head and he could be Santa Jr.," she went on and laughed, before she finally made it to their bed and slowly lay down in between them.

"Why don't you save the mean sister act until he's old enough to hit you at least?" Cam grinned.

"Nah, I'll be too old by then to get away with it," the teen replied. She reached over to Josh's arm that was hanging off of Jack's chest and stroked a finger along his palm. Instantly he closed his fist around her finger and held onto it. "I really think we should keep him," she smiled and it showed in her eyes how touched she was by her little brother holding onto her - even if it was merely a reflex.

"Ah, I think he's finally waking up," Hodgins grinned nearly two hours later. They had expected Josh to stir much sooner, but he had kept sleeping, apparently not having found his rhythm yet.

"For a second I had hope that he would sleep through the night," Cam said and watched her son, to see when he would start getting fussy for real.

"You mean sleep for more than two hours? That he did," Jack teased her.

"Don't enjoy this too much. I'll make sure you are up every time I get up," Cam threatened him.

"Can you be quiet and watch the movie? You're missing the best parts," Michelle lectured them. Josh however didn't let her shush him and chose that moment to go from sleeping to screaming in seconds. He obviously wasn't one of those babies who whimpered first and then got louder and louder. He wanted to be heard immediately.

"Jeez, he's loud," Michelle stated the obvious and rubbed the ear he was crying into.

"And only Mommy can shut him up," Jack grinned and handed Josh to Cam, over Michelle's body.

"You want me to leave?" Michelle asked Cam, not sure how comfortable she would be with feeding Josh in front of her.

"Honey, I'm gonna do this every two hours for at least the next three months if everything goes as it should. We both better get used to you walking in on it," Cam just smiled while she pushed her shirt up. "And you better hope this still works and we don't mess up now that we're on our own," she said to Joshua and positioned him. He hadn't forgotten what to do though and stopped crying when he got what he wanted.

"Can I restart the movie?" Michelle asked once all that was audible was Josh's greedy suckling.

"Sure, we have to finish it, before us two fall asleep," Cam nodded, but kept watching her son.

"Did you already call your dad?" Jack asked her after some minutes of silence, because it suddenly came to his mind.

"No, not yet. I should probably do it though before I fall asleep, otherwise he'll be angry if I call him tomorrow," Cam replied in the negative.

"You want me to call him?" he asked.

"No, I'll do it. You called Zack?" she wanted to know. He had no family to call and with half of their friends on the other side of the earth there weren't too many people he could call.

"Yes, he was as excited as he can get and asked when we'll stop by," he reported while Michelle looked annoyed that they were interrupting the movie with their talking again.

"Give us a day or two. Knowing my family they will show up here as soon as I call my dad... so expect them tomorrow," Cam warned them both and turned her attention to Josh again when he stopped drinking. "Are we distracting you, young man? You're supposed to eat not eavesdrop," she cooed at him, when he seemed to listen intently to the voices around him. Deciding that this was a good opportunity she placed him on her legs for a second so she could switch sides. Josh didn't seem to like the idea and scrunched up his face and let out a long wail.

"Hearing you like this I'm glad I have my room on another story," Michelle grinned and rubbed his belly. When he heard the voice he quieted and listened again, seemed to wait for her to go on. "You're a curious one, huh? One of those little brothers who go through diaries and burst into the room unannounced," Michelle went on happily. Proudly she grinned at Cam and even looked over her shoulder to Jack, because she couldn't believe that the newborn was so interested in her voice that he stopped crying.

"You're rehired as babysitter," Cam just laughed and picked Josh up again. "You can listen all you want, once you're fed. Mommy is tired, so you better get to it," she turned to Josh and placed a kiss on his tiny nose and then positioned him again. Michelle only laughed but kept her mouth shut and with no sound but the TV in the room the infant could concentrate on his meal again.

After Joshua was fed, burped and changed Cam handed him to Jack so he could have some time with the newborn while he was still awake. She took the phone from the nightstand and left the bedroom, but not without looking over her shoulder again to catch a look of Jack and Joshua. It was a touching picture how Jack held their son and talked softly to him, while the baby stared back wide eyed.

With a small smile on her face she closed the door behind her and walked over to her small office which they had installed when they had moved in. Dialing her dad's number she waited until he picked up.

"Hey Cami! Your sister showed me how to see who is calling. Nice, huh?" her father greeted her.

"Impressive, Dad," she laughed.

"How's my grandson doing? Everything still alright?" Mr. Saroyan asked obliviously.

"He's fine. Just got fed, cuddled, a fresh diaper and is now talking to his daddy," Cam grinned.

"What?" her father said surprised.

"Little Joshua was born earlier today, Dad," she laughed when he remained silent.

"Oh my god! Congratulations Cami!" he exclaimed then. "Everything alright? How are you? Why are you already home?" he questioned.

"Everything went well so I didn't see a point in staying at the hospital. I can relax way better here with Jack serving me hand and foot," Cam said, still laughing.

"When can I stop by and meet my new grandson?" her father wanted to know anxiously.

"Not today," she immediately said. "How about tomorrow afternoon? The midwife will stop by in the morning, so maybe around three?" she suggested.

"Sure, I'll be there."

"And please don't bring more than five of the crazy bunch. That's all I'm willing to handle right now," she warned him.

"Ok, promised," he replied. "Now go and get some rest," he added.

"I will. See you tomorrow Dad."

"See you tomorrow," he said and they both hung up.

When she came back into the bedroom Michelle was just getting off the bed, and stretched and yawned widely.

"You're going to bed?" she asked her and had to yawn as well.

"Yes. I'm surprised you're still awake," Michelle nodded and left the room with a small wave.

"He's still awake," Cam noticed when she saw Joshua. Slowly she sat down on the bed, the soreness still there - after all she had given birth just a few hours ago.

"Yes, we're having our first father-son talk," Jack nodded with a straight face, Joshua now laying against his propped up legs, so they could look at each other.

"And? What's he saying?" Cam smiled amused.

"Not much. He's mostly smacking his lips or whining in response," Hodgins said convinced.

"Jack, I don't want to disappoint you, but I think that's just him digesting - nothing more," Cam laughed.

"You hear that, Josh? Mommy is underestimating you. You understand me, right son?" Jack cooed at him and took the fidgeting of the infant as confirmation. "See," he grinned and turned to Cam.

"You two keep conversing, I'm going to sleep," she decided and lay down on her side, facing her man and her son.

"Good night. Sleep well, babe," Hodgins said softly and placed a kiss on her forehead. The motion disturbed Joshua though and he started complaining. "Shh, Mommy needs to sleep," Jack tried to calm him down, but it wasn't working. Cam opened one eye and held out her arms without changing her position. She placed Joshua next to her on the bed so he could snuggle up to her chest. His cries died down when he felt his mother and Cam closed her eyes again. Jack spent the next half hour just watching the two of them until he fell asleep as well.

* * *

"Good morning, little man," Jack greeted his son the next day when he found him laying awake in his bassinet. "You're up and not crying? The flying teddy bears above your head are pretty interesting, huh?" he went on, carefully took the baby out of the bed and kissed his cheek. "Let Mommy sleep for a while longer because you woke her up every three hours." Quietly he walked out of the room, holding the infant close to his chest. He made his way downstairs, talking to his son the whole time and stopped when he surprisingly found Michelle in the kitchen.

"Another one up early," he commented.

"I thought I could make breakfast for all of us," Michelle shrugged modestly, her eyes drawn to the bundle in Jack's arms.

"I'm making the pancakes, you get to know your brother, now that he's awake," Hodgins decided and took the spoon out of her hand.

"I'm really afraid I'm gonna drop him or I won't hold him right," she said and looked uncomfortable.

"You won't drop him," he grinned and carefully handed her the baby once she had sat down on one of the stools in the kitchen.

"Good morning Josh. You caused the two of them some trouble the first night, I hope," she smiled at her baby brother.

"No, he just wanted food and a fresh diaper every once in a while. Other than that he was the perfect gentleman," Jack had to disappoint her.

"Too bad. Guess I'll have to teach you then," Michelle grinned and observed her brother. "Is it normal that he looks like a gaping fish who can't decide if he wants to laugh or cry?" she asked Jack some seconds later.

"I guess. He's been doing that since he woke up," Hodgins shrugged and poured some batter into the pan.

"What did Cam's dad say last night? Will they all stop by today?"

"Yeah, some time in the afternoon. If you want Perry to come over that's ok. One more or less doesn't matter," he offered and wrinkled his forehead in confusion when she remained silent. "Something wrong?" he asked suspiciously and turned around, where he found Michelle intently studying her brother's face.

"Perry and I broke up last week," she finally admitted.

"Does Cam know about it?" he asked, stunned he hadn't heard about it yet.

"No, I haven't told her yet. She was so busy with work and preparing for the baby and everything... I didn't want to worry her," Michelle admitted sadly.

"Oh Michelle, you have to tell us stuff like that. Or Cam at least," he said sympathetically and gave her shoulder a squeeze before he turned back to his pancakes before they burnt.

"Why don't you take Josh to the living room and cuddle him for a bit. You look like you need a hug and he's a really good cuddler, being a baby and all," Hodgins suggested and the weird logic in it made Michelle smile again.

"Sounds good," she shrugged and got up. "Come on, bro'. You might be just a day old, but your sister kind of needs you," she said and walked off with him.

* * *

He had just put the last pancake on the plate when he felt two arms wrapping around him from behind and smiled.

"Good morning, Mommy," he greeted her and turned around.

"Please tell me, we won't be one of those couples who call each other 'mommy' and 'daddy'. It creeps me out," she replied and stepped more into him.

"We won't, crazy lady," he chuckled and kissed her.

"Where's Josh? You got rid of him already?" she asked when she looked around and couldn't see their baby anywhere.

"Michelle's with him in the living room. She needed a cuddly baby brother to mend her broken heart," he sighed dramatically.

"Perry?" Cam asked.

"They broke up," he nodded.

"I suspected as much. Haven't seen him around since the baby shower," she said knowingly.

"She said she didn't want to worry you, but I guess she could use a hug from Mommy, too," he grinned, knowing about her aversion to the 'mommy' thing now.

"Daddy will be missing some body parts if he doesn't stop annoying Mommy," she shot back and left the kitchen to the sound of his laughter.

* * *

"Hey," Cam only said when she entered the living room and sat down next to Michelle. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"Jack told you, huh?" Michelle asked knowingly and let her head drop to Cam's shoulder.

"I kind of knew already, but I waited for you to come to me," Cam nodded against her head and stroked over Josh's fuzzy hair with the fingers of her free hand.

"How?" Michelle wanted to know.

"A little too much of Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' and too little Perry," Cam told her.

"He met this other girl at college... it's ok I guess," Michelle provided a bit more information about what happened.

"You're sure?"

"It sucks being alone again, but I don't really miss him... at least not more than I would miss any other of my friends, you know?" she explained.

"You're not alone. You have Joshua now," Cam smiled and pointed to Michelle's finger which the infant had grasped with his fist again.

"He really is a good cuddler. Maybe a bit fussy, but great comfort anyway," Michelle smiled back and sat back up straight.

"Good to know he is welcome," Cam smiled.

"He really is. Cutest little brother ever," Michelle assured her.

"I kind of like him, too. But I might be biased," Cam laughed and placed a kiss on Michelle's temple.

"Earlier I thought for a moment he was smiling at me," Michelle remembered then.

"Nah, he's just scrunching up his face every now and then without real meaning. Give him another four weeks and he might smile for real," Cam had to disappoint her.

"I think now he knows what he's doing though," Michelle laughed when Joshua started sucking on his own fist.

"He should be hungry, he's half an hour overdue," Cam knew and took him from Michelle.

"Go help Jack set the table. We'll be over once he's done," Cam instructed, yawned and unbuttoned her shirt.

* * *

Just four weeks later Cam found herself in the FBI conference room at the Hoover building. So much had changed in these last few weeks and all of their original plans had been shot to hell.

It had started with the fact that the body of a child had come in after she had left for maternity leave and her team hadn't been able to determine if it was the kid whose abduction case had become quite known, or another child.

So despite all of her efforts she had been forced back to the lab, which had resulted in Jack staying at home with Joshua, stopping by however for the feedings. Also the waves of her veteran/brain damage article had become higher and higher and her boss at the Jeffersonian had feared for their reputation. He had decided to put the forensic unit on hold until Dr. Brennan would be back full time or Jack and Cam were able to work together again. That had resulted in her working at the morgue with the few guys left of her team, but they were no help.

The interview fiasco of the last week had done the rest and not only did Cam miss her son, her boyfriend, her daughter and her lab, but found herself fearing for her professional future at the same time.

"They've started a search for a new Federal Medical Examiner," Caroline Julian informed her and confirmed her fears.

"Caroline, I'm very good at my job!" she protested and wished she could just go home, hold her son and not worry about a damn thing anymore.

"Yes, you are very good, but that's not the issue. They're mad at you for causing a fuss, and they're looking for an excuse to fire you. That child is their excuse. You said your forensic artist and anthropologist are no good, right? What if I told you I got you the best? Plus a cop who will help you, not blame you?" Caroline told her and Cam wondered what she was talking about.

"The best anthropologist is in Indonesia, the best cop is in Afghanistan and the best forensic artist is in France!" she knew.

"I got 'em all coming back," Caroline said as if it were nothing.

"How'd you do that?" she asked her wide eyed.

"Same way I'm gonna get you a tame psychologist," she replied and started dialing a number on her cell phone.

* * *

Two hours later Hodgins was the first to join his girlfriend in the conference room.

"Hey Caroline," he greeted the attorney and then turned to his girlfriend. "Hi babe," he grinned and pecked her lips.

"Where's that new addition of yours? I have yet to meet him," Caroline interrupted them.

"Out with the boys. I guess a bunch of cops make for great babysitters," he shrugged and pulled Cam sideways against him when she got up from her chair. "Everything's gonna be fine," he whispered in her ear.

"Just how much do you know about all of this?" she asked suspiciously, but he only replied with a kiss to her forehead. "Did Josh take the bottle?" she asked him then, knowing she wouldn't get anything out of him as long as they weren't alone.

"Not all of it. He fell asleep while drinking. He should be hungry when he wakes up," he replied.

"Dr. Hodgins, Dr. Saroyan," Brennan interrupted their talk as she walked into the room with Booth following her.

"Cam," he smiled when he saw his friend and hugged her tightly.

"Seeley, I'm so glad you're back safe," she told him honestly and hugged him back while Hodgins greeted Brennan.

"Dr. Brennan it's so good to have you back," he said happily before he let her go so she could greet Cam and he could exchange a manly hug with Booth.

"Oh my God, you're all here already," Angela exclaimed when she saw them all and hurried to hug first Brennan, then Hodgins, Cam and Booth.

"Seems like the old team is back," Sweets nodded and stepped into the room as well to greet his friends.

"Yeah, the crew is complete," Angela agreed and hugged Brennan again.

"Not totally complete," Hodgins muttered with a smile when he saw one of the police officers carrying Joshua's car seat with the crying baby shortly before the glass door slid open.

"Dr. Hodgins, I'm sorry, but he won't calm down," the young officer said apologetically and Hodgins just thanked him.

"Oh God," Cam muttered when her body reacted to the hungry cries of her son and she looked down to see if there were already wet spots on her shirt.

"Is that...?" Booth grinned when he saw the baby when Hodgins placed the car seat on the conference table and Cam hurried to take Joshua out.

"Jack, can you hand me one of the burp cloths before I have to go change again?" she said pleadingly and sat down with her son, while the rest of the people in the room were still staring at her in shock. As soon as she had herself and her son covered she opened her blouse and allowed him to nurse, which also took the pressure for her.

Only then did she notice that all eyes were on her, except those of Sweets and Booth, because one had already met Joshua and the other was so embarrassed he didn't know where to look.

"You had a baby?" Angela croaked, still not believing her eyes.

"Oh, yes we did," Cam nodded and adjusted the cloth that Joshua had pulled down a bit while waving his arm around as he ate.

"Everyone, meet Joshua Samuel Hodgins," Jack said proudly and a new round of congratulations echoed through the room as Caroline still waited for her chance to finally get to the point.

While Cam nursed Joshua Jack told the whole story, how they had found out before everyone had left, how Parker had spilled their secret to Booth and how he had become a father four weeks ago. Just as he finished his tale Cam handed Joshua over to him so he could burp him and she could readjust her clothes.

"He looks just like you," Angela gushed when she saw him looking over Jack's shoulder.

"All infants have the facial structure of their father at first," Brennan knew but couldn't help but smile at the baby as well.

"Can I hold him?" Booth asked, unable to take his eyes off his 'nephew'.

"Give me a minute. He usually spits a lot out," Jack declined and just as he closed his mouth Joshua opened his and spit out some of his meal. "Still want him?" Hodgins laughed and handed the baby to Booth when he nodded.

"There you are. I'm Uncle Seeley, Josh. Yes, your uncle Seeley," he cooed at the baby and Angela stepped closer so she could observe him as well.

"He's so cute," she sighed as Brennan congratulated Cam now that she was fully dressed again.

"The reason we're here is… " Caroline tried again but no one was listening to her. The commotion was too much for Joshua who started crying again. "People…. "

"Seeley hand him over," Cam ordered and took her son again, who snuggled into her shoulder and quieted down immediately.

"The reason we're here… Hello?" Caroline finally managed to get their attention. "Cam here has decided to launch a jihad," she informed them.

"Wow, 'jihad' – talk about loaded terminology!" Sweets said and Cam only kissed Joshua's hair, glad to have him in her arms again. She felt like she hadn't seen him at all these last weeks- besides feeding him that is.

"Far, far above us on the food chain, someone with a cold heart has decided that Cam must be silenced," Caroline went on.

"I'm totally impressed," Hodgins winked proudly at Cam.

"Wait wait, what jihad?" Booth wanted clarification.

"Brain damage in veterans," Cam summed it up and readjusted Joshua so he was cradled in her arm.

"The point is, the easiest way to shut Cam up is to fire her, for cause. Tell them," Miss Julian demanded.

"Three months ago a 2-year-old boy, Logan Bartlett, disappears; stolen in the middle of the night from his mother's house," Cam started the story with a sigh.

"Kidnapped child… the media jumped on it big time, blew it up huge," Caroline added.

"Do you believe this is Logan Bartlett?" Hodgins asked, feeling a bit out of the loop because he had stayed home with Joshua instead of helped her at the lab.

"The media does, and they're saying I'm incompetent because I won't confirm or deny," Cam explained for the others what the main problem was.

"Incompetence is grounds for dismissal," the attorney made it even clearer.

"Well, the size is right for a 2-year-old. The sternum is crushed, that's a possible cause of death," Brennan said after looking through the files they had been given.

"The stand in bug guy says insect activity indicates that the time of death was between six and twelve weeks ago," Cam nodded.

"So, useless timeframe," Booth threw in and couldn't help himself: he had to stroke over Joshua's head.

"Yeah, the bug guy is not Hodgins. In fact, nobody is any of you," Cam sighed and again Jack looked guilty, knowing he had let her down, even though she had never asked for his help after they had decided that he would stay at home so she could work. She hadn't even given him the results of his stand in to check them.

"That didn't make sense," Brennan decided.

"So, our goal here is, you people tuck in like the old days, make Cam look competent, so we keep us the best federal coroner we ever had, before she becomes a stay at home mom," Caroline told them.

"I had no idea you thought that," Cam smiled and was touched by the compliment.

"I'm in," decided Booth. "But first thing in the morning I gotta have breakfast with Parker and then I'll go find the missing kid's parents, to see if I can get any information off them. Alright?"

"We're in," Angela spoke for the rest of them.

"Absolutely, we will just bring Joshua with us to the lab tomorrow," Hodgins agreed, talking partly to the others and party to Cam.

"Thank you, guys," Cam said, grateful for her friends and waved goodbye to Booth and Angela who left immediately.

"Here. I'll take him and heat up the car," Hodgins said and took the now sleeping baby from her, placed him in the car seat and left as well.

"I am going to need some help," Brennan requested.

"Wait, didn't Daisy come back with you?" Sweets wanted to know.

"Daisy said that she needs some time off. Who else is available?" Brennan asked.

"Nobody," Cam let her know.

"Nobody?" Brennan asked incredulously.

"Vincent Nigel-Murray won a million dollars on Jeopardy! Took a round-the-world trip," Sweets started with the first intern that came to his mind.

"Mr. Vasiri switched majors from forensic to cultural anthropology; he's interning at the Baghdad museum," Cam continued.

"Fisher checked into a clinic with a case of 'The Hopeless Vapors'. Dr Edison took a position in Chicago," Caroline threw in her knowledge before she left as well.

"What about Wendell?" Brennan wanted to know.

"Last I heard, working in a repair shop. Excuse me," Sweets replied and exited as well.

"What happened? You are no longer in the Jeffersonian, all my interns gone…" the anthropologist demanded.

"What happened is you put your own desires ahead of everything else and you left," Cam told her.

"Are you angry with me?" Brennan wondered.

"Yes, I am angry, Dr Brennan. We had a great thing going and you just… you let it fall apart," Cam said honestly and left Brennan alone in the room.

* * *

Later that night at home the atmosphere was tense. Cam held Joshua close and cuddled with him on the couch while Jack sat beside her and pretended to watch TV while he was actually deep in thought. They had danced around each other and the talk ever since they had come back from the Hoover and he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep if they didn't talk before they went to bed.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me that everything was so messed up at work," he finally just spit out what was bothering him, without thinking too much about semantics. He knew his girlfriend and knew she didn't deal well with accusations, but there simply was no other way to put it.

"You knew about the Bartlett case, that's why they called me back," she said defensively.

"I knew they wanted you back and I agreed to stay home with Joshua, but why didn't you at least ask me to help you when your new bug guy turned out to be a total failure?" he asked and muted the TV.

"Why? You decided to stay home, since I couldn't. I can't look after my son alone and then I can't even do my job anymore without your help?" she articulated it like a question, when it really was a statement of her fears.

"He's our son. And nobody ever said that you're failing," he told her and moved closer to her when she just looked down at Joshua, refusing to meet his eyes.

"I feel like I am. Now everyone needed to come back because I couldn't get my job done," she replied quietly and her chin started quivering alarmingly. "And at the same time it makes me angry that these stupid reporters attack me because I can't deny or confirm anything, when it's not even my area of expertise! I work with flesh, not with bones! Also try solving a murder on your own four weeks after giving birth," she fumed.

"You can't do it all by yourself. We knew it would be hard to keep working while looking after this little guy," he replied and wrapped one arm around her shoulder and pulled her against him.

"It's all too much at the moment," she finally admitted and moved as close to him as she could without squishing the baby between them. "And the bosses feeding me to the sharks for my veterans' article doesn't help either."

"When will you finally get it through your thick skull that you don't need to do it all alone? I'm here, Caroline is here and all the others came back just to help you," he wasn't done yet with his lecture.

"I somehow doubt however that this was completely Caroline's idea," she raised her eyebrows and lifted her head from his shoulder so she could look at him.

"Let's just say I want my lab back at the Jeffersonian and bringing the team back was the easiest way to get it," he grinned and gave her the only selfish reason of several that had let him involve Caroline. "And Miss Julian agreed."

"What will we do with Josh?" she asked.

"Between all of us I think there are enough babysitter's around to bring him with us to work. And having him around might help you get your balance back," he knew.

"I really miss him," she sighed and kissed Joshua's chubby cheek.

"Looking at him and seeing how calm he is when you hold him I'd say he misses you, too," Hodgins agreed and softly kissed her lips.

* * *

"Wow… these really are the remains of a child, huh?" Angela said the next morning when they all found themselves in Cam's temporary workplace at the morgue.

"Yeah. And that about sums up my total knowledge on the case: it's a male child," Cam said and let the frustration swing in her voice.

"You like living in Paris?" Wendell asked Angela and Cam knew that they hadn't talked either since Angela had left.

"Are you kidding? It's Paris! Yeah, I get to draw the Eiffel Tower; not dead children's faces," Angela stated and looked down at the bones of the dead child.

"These remains were found wrapped in a blanket in a shallow grave along the Potomac," Brennan turned the attention back on the case.

"Yeah… I don't know if that's a blanket. Um… looks like it might have been cut from something larger..? Now the stitching suggests that maybe it's from some kind of garment; like a jacket or a sleeping bag," Angela pointed out after taking a closer look at the potential blanket.

"What does this look like to you, Wendell?" Brennan turned to her intern and showed him something on the x-ray while all Cam could do was watch them work, since she had already done as much as she could on this case.

"Root completion of the canines," the intern knew immediately.

"That plus the fusion of the vertebral elements," Brennan said aloud.

"You're suggesting that this victim is over three years old?" Cam could finally follow her logic.

"Yes," Brennan simply said.

"Despite his small size?" the coroner wondered.

"It's hard to be sure in a child this young but, the eye orbits are relatively round," Angela pointed out and Brennan approached the table to take a closer look.

"Yes! Angela's right," she confirmed.

"About what?" Cam had lost them again.

"The round eye orbits. The skull is brachycephalic," Brennan went on in her usual incomprehensible mumbo-jumbo.

"If I was reconstructing this skull, I'd definitely be going Asian," Angela explained.

"So it can't be Logan Bartlett," Cam sighed and felt relieved that she could at least make a statement on the case now.

* * *

After Cam had made the call to the FBI to tell them about the new developments in the case she returned back to the morgue where Wendell and Brennan were still working on the body.

"What have you got?" she asked them after witnessing Brennan actually complimenting Wendell.

"Well, we won't know for certain until we get a complete histological profile but it's looking pretty good that this kid is an Asian immigrant," Wendell informed her.

"By pretty good, Mr. Bray means a better than 85% chance," Dr. Brennan again felt the need to clarify just when Hodgins entered with Angela. She had obviously taken Joshua out of the car seat since Hodgins was only carrying the car seat while she carried the baby.

"Hey! Hodgins found some bug evidence and I found a cute baby boy," Angela chirped and smiled at the new addition.

"Hey Hodgins, what's up?" Wendell greeted his friend.

"Hey brother!" Jack grinned back and they shared a manly hug like they hadn't seen each other in months - which wasn't true at all.

"And you little guy? Remember me? The guy you barfed all over while we watched football last week?" Wendell said as he softly bumped his large first against Joshua's small one.

"Wow! What is with this scuzzy hellhole? And where is my office?" Hodgins exclaimed when he finally took in his surroundings. He had picked up Cam several times, but had always waited outside in the past.

"You see that table over there? That's your office; and you have to share," Cam told him with a large smile and some satisfaction.

"Huh!" he just shrugged and then walked to the table.

"If these remains are Asian, that might help explain his size and this is all adding up to the likelihood that this is not Logan Bartlett," Cam turned back to the case, but took her son out of Angela's arms anyway.

"It's not Logan Bartlett. Cam's bug guy – really not top shelf by the way – says that insect activity indicates that this kid died between six and twelve weeks ago but he didn't take into account the fact that the kid was wrapped up," Hodgins took over and walked to the only available PC to plug in the USB drive he had brought.

"The blanket retarded insect activity," Brennan knew.

"Again, not a blanket," Angela felt the need to point out.

"Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae flies are present as adults and early instar larvae… " Hodgins started his speech but stopped when he saw Cam closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose with two fingers - a telltale sign that she was already running out of patience. "You're not interested in details," he stated. "Okay. Upshot: this child died at least sixteen weeks ago; long before Logan Bartlett went missing," he summed it up for her sake and then leaned down to Joshua. "I will give you the details later," he whispered to him as Cam only shook her head.

"I think we're all agreed that this is not the missing child," Brennan summed it all up.

"No, maybe not the famous one but, this is somebody's missing child," Angela pointed out. At this statement Cam changed her hold on Joshua and placed him against her shoulder so he was facing away from the skeleton and she could kiss his cheek. She didn't even want to imagine what it must be like to lose your child.

"Then we should see that we find out what happened to this little guy as well," Jack said and stepped closer to her.

"Yeah, we really should," Angela said softly and looked down at the remains again. Silence spread between them while they were looking back and forth between the corpse of the dead child on the table and the very alive four week old on Cam's arm. Finally she kissed his cheek again and smiled tenderly at her son when to their biggest surprise Joshua smiled right back at her.

"Aw," Angela and Wendell both sighed at the same time as Jack exclaimed "He smiled! He really smiled at you!" and Brennan couldn't help but smile with them. It was nice to have a reminder of hope with you while working on a case of a dead child.

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Crumbs and boys**

"Is Josh asleep?" Cam asked when she came out of the bathroom and found Hodgins already sitting on their bed. She had just taken a quick shower and knew that it usually took much longer to feed, change and rock Joshua to sleep.

"Went out like a light. The trip to the morgue exhausted him," he nodded.

"He really didn't sleep long this afternoon. Guess he got the curiosity from you," she smiled and got into bed as well, covering her legs with the blanket.

"You're feeling better today?" Jack wanted to know and watched her expression carefully.

"I do. Now that I can confirm that it isn't the missing kid that weight has been lifted off my shoulders," she confirmed and snuggled more into him when he pulled her close.

"I marked today as 'First smile' day in Josh's book," Hodgins told her and they both had to smile remembering the milestone.

"I can't wait to see him smile again. At that moment it was just what we all needed," she admitted.

"Good day," he stated.

"Good day," Cam confirmed.

"You know what would make this day even better?" he asked, his wide grin already giving her an idea.

"No, what?" she played ignorant.

"Let me show you," he said huskily, his blue eyes staring into hers. Flashes of excitement ran through her body when he cupped her cheek with one hand and then slowly brought his lips to hers. The kiss was just a soft touch of his lips on hers at first, but her eyes fluttered shut without her even realizing it. They hadn't had a lot of physical contact since Joshua had been born due to the stress. Other than quick pecks or a short hug here and there they hadn't really touched each other. So it was Cam who deepened the kiss and ran her tongue against his bottom lip. A few seconds later she was lying on her back while he was hovering over her and kissing her senseless with barely contained passion. And she gave as good as she got. When they had to breathe he peppered kisses all over her face before his lips wandered down over her chin to her neck. She was helpless against the onslaught of sensations after 4 weeks of nothing and could only cling to his shoulders. She was even more breathless than before when he claimed her lips again and made her moan.

The kiss had a similar effect on him and he just couldn't stop his hands from wandering anymore. He had missed being this close to her and he just wasn't able to stop- not until she told him to. Her breast size was bigger than ever before and he loved it- even knowing they would be off limits for a while. He ran his hands over her chest and was spurred on by her moans. So when he reached the hem of her shirt he let his hands glide underneath, just to stop when she froze.

"Babe, what's wrong?" he asked her breathlessly.

"I don't really have my figure back yet. I'm still... wobbly," she replied and he knew that her self-doubts were back.

"You're gorgeous," he assured her, pulled her shirt up and placed a noisy kiss on her stomach, which made her laugh because it tickled.

"Still, we have to stop," she smiled at him and her eyes told him that she didn't really want to.

"Still no green light from your ObGyn?" he knew.

"Not yet," Cam shook her head and glided her fingers through his hair. "Maybe another week or two."

"I'm gonna freeze to death from all the cold showers I have to take," he whined and let his head drop down on her stomach.

"It's not like you can't get any relief," she pointed out.

"No fun," he pouted. "And don't tell me you couldn't use a little... fun," he stumbled a bit over his words.

"The stitches haven't healed yet, at least not the way they should," she spelled it out for him.

"There's only one part of your body with stitches... which means the rest is available," he grinned.

"I'm leaking milk on the upper half and my stomach feels like a rubber ball... you wanna make love to that?" she laughed, but it was laced with doubts.

"I wanna kiss you all over. If you don't want to join, all you have to do is lie there," he told her with a big smile and placed another kiss on her belly to prove his point.

"Go ahead, I'm not stopping you, but I don't wanna hear any complaints afterwards," she had to laugh and was glad when it didn't stop him. Instead he leaned up and kissed her again, while his hands wandered underneath her shirt once more, this time not stopping on her stomach. She sighed happily and kissed him back- it was nice to feel like a woman again.

* * *

The next day the two love birds found themselves at the morgue again with Wendell, Dr. Brennan and a sleeping Joshua.

"Dr Brennan was right, I found a very small puncture in the boy's hyoid," Wendell told them.

"A puncture; like he was stabbed?" Cam wanted to know.

"That's what I thought; so, I took a close look and I found…" Hodgins chimed in and pointed to the microscope so Brennan would take a look.

"Cellulose?" she knew once she had checked it.

"Wood. My best estimate is hard wood: maple, alder or ash," he clarified.

"I don't believe a stabbing would cause this kind of damage," Brennan wondered.

"How else would a sharp piece of wood come into contact with the hyoid?" Cam asked them, because she couldn't come up with an appropriate scenario.

"Maybe a toothpick," Wendell tried.

"Combined with concomitant damage to the sternum, I propose the following scenario: a child swallows something, perhaps a toothpick; he… chokes, he stops breathing; someone tries to save him," Brennan speculated.

"The damage to the sternum was from the Heimlich maneuver," Wendell agreed with his teacher.

"What about him being tied up like this?" Cam wanted to know, because just seeing it creeped her out.

"Yeah, that mostly looks bad," Hodgins agreed with her and glanced over to Joshua who seemed to wake up.

"There are cultures where the binding of hands and feet is part of the burial ritual: ancient Jews, some Asian cultures, including the subcontinent," the anthropologist enlightened them.

"Angie says the boy was Asian," Jack nodded and looked at Joshua again, who was blinking against the light in the room now, but wasn't crying - yet.

"So we're not looking at a murder, we're looking at negligence, or maybe even an accident?" Cam asked, noticing her son's fluttering eyelids as well.

"Logically, I'd say yes," Brennan said and they all let that sink in for a moment. This kid hadn't been killed, but someone had tried to save him and had buried him with love. That was sweet and sad at the same time. Again Joshua saved them from lingering too long with that thought, because he made his presence known by wailing loudly.

"Knew that wouldn't take long," Jack chuckled and took him out of his car seat.

"He is hungry," Cam knew.

"I read that mother's can tell by the cries of their child if they are hungry or crying about something else," Brennan said, but looked questioningly at Cam.

"I can mostly tell that he's hungry when I think my chest is gonna explode any second," Cam smiled and made Wendell laugh.

"You gonna feed him here?" Hodgins asked and pointed with his chin to the dead child on the slab.

"No, I'm gonna go to the changing room," she said.

"Do you mind if I come with you? I need to get my things and then call Booth and tell him about the new developments," Brennan asked.

"Of course I don't, Dr. Brennan," Cam smiled and wanted to take the wailing infant from its father.

"Hey, at least a kiss for the poor dad you two are gonna leave all alone," he requested and kept Joshua.

"Fine," she rolled her eyes and kissed him shortly before she took Joshua and left the room together with Brennan.

"Shh, Josh, you're going to wake the dead if you keep wailing like that. Just a second, honey," Cam cooed at him while she walked to the changing room at the other end of the story.

"He seems very hungry," Brennan observed.

"He's always _very _hungry," Cam said and shook her head. "I have yet to see him normally hungry."

"Was he planned?" Brennan asked then and at first Cam was taken aback by the sudden blunt question. "I don't mean to offend you," Brennan back pedaled when the surprise must have shown on Cam's face.

"No, it's ok," Cam said then while positioning Joshua. She waited until he had latched on and wasn't crying anymore until she answered the question. "He was planned in a way. We just didn't expect him so soon," Cam admitted. "I had an ectopic pregnancy shortly before I became pregnant with Joshua and didn't expect to get pregnant again so fast."

"I didn't know, I'm sorry," Brennan said and looked really touched by what Cam had just told her.

"No one knows but Angela, Jack and me. He took it really hard."

"And now you have Joshua," Brennan said and stroked over the baby's head. "Booth can't wait until he can babysit him," she added then.

"I know, but Josh's pretty dependent on me and Jack at the moment. After an hour or two he gets fussy and can't be calmed down by anyone but us two. Not even Michelle manages and he sees her every day," the pathologist replied. When she looked at Brennan she saw that she was watching her son her closely and there was something in her eyes that told her that Brennan hadn't only talked about Booth just then. "I could use your help once he is fed though," she started and Brennan looked at her curiously. "Caroline will come over in a few minutes and it would go much faster if Josh was taken care of while Jack and I talk to her."

"Oh, you would really let me watch him?" Brennan was surprised.

"He will be fine for the time. He's a pretty nice guy when he's sated and burped," Cam grinned and the smile on Brennan's face showed her that it was a good idea to ask her.

"I would love to," Brennan smiled widely. "Booth and I want to go for a drink tonight at the Founding fathers. Would you like to join us?" she asked then.

"Actually, I would, thank you. It's Jack's turn to stay at home with Josh anyway. He was out last week with the boys," Cam nodded and was really happy at the thought of getting out of the house for an evening.

* * *

Half an hour Caroline showed up and Cam left Josh alone with Brennan, knowing he would be fine for the few minutes the attorney would stay.

"Korea!" Hodgins said when the two entered.

"Korea?" Cam asked and didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

"The boy was wrapped in a kind of polyester fabric which is not legal in the United States; it's flammable. But, it is very common in North Korea; mostly in outerwear," he explained his former statement.

"That would explain the malnutrition. North Korea's not famous for its cuisine," Cam agreed with him.

"North Koreans aren't allowed to leave their country," Caroline pointed out to the two of them.

"Well, a few lucky ones escape; mainly to rejoin their families in South Korea. There's something else: the twine there that's binding the boy's hands and feet? It's a very heavy industrial embroidery thread," Hodgins went on with his explanation for the most plausible scenario.

"Sleeping bags?" Cam asked.

"Yes. Also casket linings, moving blankets, horse blankets…" Hodgins went on.

"So, we're looking for an industrial sewing operation with a Korean connection," Cam summed it up and Hodgins nodded.

"Then you better get that info to our FBI hunk," Caroline said and waved goodbye before she left the room.

"Brennan can tell him when she drives to the Hoover," Hodgins shrugged.

"Speaking of our FBI hunk and Brennan. Can you watch Josh tonight? Brennan invited me out for drinks with her and Booth," she grinned, knowing he wouldn't like that she called Seeley 'hunk'.

"They need a mediator now that Booth has a girlfriend that isn't Brennan?" Jack said and pulled her closer, realizing they were alone for the moment.

"Please, don't let us get into that before I talked with him about it. Officially I don't know anything yet," she rolled her eyes at his curiosity.

"And of course I can watch Josh tonight. As long as you leave us some food for him," Jack pointed out.

"I will. But I won't stay out too long so I'll probably be back before he needs to be fed again," she nodded.

"And Angie asked me if I could go out for lunch with her sometime," he told her because the opportunity seemed to be right there.

"Sure, as long as you don't call her Angie," she said and scrunched her face up while repeating the nickname.

"Oh come on, you can't be jealous," he laughed. "You called Booth a hunk."

"As long as she can do things I can't _I am_ jealous," she pointed out and pressed her index finger in his chest. "That's also the reason why Booth is no problem, no matter what I call him."

"So until we can have sex again nicknames for ex girlfriends are off limits?" he asked with an amused smile.

"Exactly," she nodded and tried to stay serious.

"I just love you, crazy lady," he chuckled and kissed her tenderly while he leaned back against the old desk.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have to leave," Brennan interrupted their moment when she entered a second later with Joshua.

"Ok, take the reports of Hodgins newest findings with you," Cam said a bit flustered and wiped the edges of her mouth with her finger to get rid of possibly smudged lipstick.

"Did he behave?" Jack asked and didn't mind at all that Brennan had just busted them.

"He smiled at me," Brennan reported proudly.

"Aw, did you smile for Dr. B.? Already charming the ladies," he asked Joshua and took him from her. Joshua replied by smiling at his babbling father, who gushed even more over him.

"Thanks for watching him," Cam grinned then, mostly because of Jack's antics as he was trying to keep Joshua smiling.

"You're welcome. See you tonight at eight," Brennan said then.

"See you then," Cam replied and then turned to her two men. "Daddy's being a goofball again, huh Josh? Tell him he's being silly for making these stupid faces and he should get back to work," she laughed.

"Tell Mommy she's being bossy again," Jack replied but all Joshua did was smile at both his parents.

* * *

~*~  
"They were so afraid of the authorities that they buried the child themselves?" Cam asked unbelievingly when she sat together with Brennan and Booth that night and they had told her what they had learned about the child.

"Y' know, the States, they seem like heaven to them. I mean, they… they probably thought they were going to be executed or even worse, sent back to North Korea," Booth nodded.

"What will happen to them?" Brennan wanted to know.

"Ah, you know, knowing Caroline, she probably won't even charge 'em. Caroline is a nice person… underneath the whole… you know, not nice… thing," Booth speculated.

"I'm afraid I have to agree, she got everybody back here to save my job," Cam nodded before she took another sip of her water with an olive...She had insisted on that combo so at least she could imagine she was drinking something other than tap water.

"Why do we only solve crimes when we have a dead body?" Booth asked and for a second she wondered if he had started drinking before she had arrived. What kind of question was that?

"Seriously?" she asked and tried to swallow her drink quickly. "Because I'm a pathologist and she's a forensic anthropologist?" she went on but all she got was a nod and a blank expression. "Fresh dead, long-time dead?" she spelled it out for him.

"I was thinking about Logan Bartlett," Booth finally came to the point of his weird question.

"The missing boy?" Brennan wanted clarification; obviously she doubted his ability to think clearly as much as Cam did.

"Yeah, I checked out the Missing Persons investigation into the father and… The dad buys a car three days after the son disappeared. What kind of father does that?" Booth revealed and both Brennan and Cam only wrinkled their foreheads.

"A bad one?" Brennan finally said.

"Sounds a bit hinky, I have to give you that," Cam agreed.

"I will check him out tomorrow," Booth decided.

"I will come with you," Brennan said immediately and they both looked at Cam.

"Don't look at me. I have a meeting at the Jeffersonian tomorrow and have to bring along Josh, because it might take a while," she held up her hands.

"Why do you keep nursing him? Wouldn't it be easier to just give him the bottle?" Booth shook his head, not understanding why she was going through so much trouble with this.

"Booth, it's a fact that no formula can supply the infant with as many vitamins and even anti bacterial substances as mother milk. It is recommended to breastfeed a child until it's at least six months old. In some cultures children are being breastfed until the age of three," Brennan hurried to explain to her partner.

"Ok, that's creepy," Cam commented on the last part. "But I agree to the rest," she just said.

"Booth, I didn't tell you yet, but Joshua smiled at me today," Brennan reported proudly.

"I didn't see him all day," he pouted.

"I even watched him for a while. That's when he smiled at me," Brennan went on bragging.

"She got to watch him? Why haven't I got to watch him yet? I've known you much longer _and_ I have a son, too," Booth complained to Cam.

"Simply because you weren't around," she rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "Also, I have exactly one more hour until I need to go home, because my son will scream down the house otherwise, so can we maybe talk about something else? This is the first time since he was born that I simply have a moment to myself without baby, baby daddy or work," Cam sighed heavily.

"Trouble in paradise?" Booth wondered.

"No, not at all. I just need to talk about something else, thank you," Cam shook her head and then changed the topic to Brennan's adventures on the Maluku Islands.

* * *

Angela was pouting a bit, just like Booth had done the day before when she learned that Josh wouldn't accompany her and Jack to the diner for lunch.

"You really could have brought him, I wouldn't have minded," she said for at least the fifth time.

"I know, but it's not in my hands at the moment," he just replied, because honestly it wasn't anyone's business how they juggled their baby schedule. Sure, they all wanted to cuddle the baby for a bit and see if they could get smiles out of him, but he needed his mother, it was as simple as that.

"How's being a father? As good as you pictured it?" she wanted to know then and the question threw him off a bit, because Angela rarely asked things like that without having something in mind.

"Totally different, but even better," he smiled. "Why, you want to become a father, too?" he joked.

"Not a father... but a mother in about eight and a half months," she said and for a second he was so shocked he forgot to breathe.

"What?" he squeaked then.

"I'm pregnant. Just found out a few days ago," she revealed with a big smile.

"The father still in Paris?" he asked the first thing that came to his mind.

"I guess... haven't seen him since the night it happened," Angela shrugged, like it was no big deal at all.

"You're happy about it?" he asked.

"I'm really happy," she nodded as they entered the Royal Diner.

"Oh, you wanna stay? Here? In DC?" Hodgins asked.

"I think it would be good if I had the baby here, in the States," she nodded.

"A baby! Your baby!" he grinned as they sat down at the counter. "Still sounds so weird; you're gonna have a baby! You're gonna stay in the States, to have your baby," he repeated.

"Yeah, all that wine in France is now totally wasted on me," she joked and then turned to the waitress. "Tea, please." She watched him for a moment, waiting for him to say something, but he just grinned and stared at her. "Why did you suddenly get quiet?"

"Oh, because I am so happy! Josh and your little one will be able to grow up together. They might become best friends or even get married one day," he let his imagination get the better of him.

"Okay; so you don't mind then?" she wanted confirmation.

"Are you kidding? This is the greatest news I've gotten since you all came back. And now our kids will get married one day and maybe have their own family..."

"Okay. Alright, we'll finish this conversation when you have your brain back," Angela dead panned when he didn't stop and still had that dreamy look on his face. "I think that we should also- Can we just keep it between us until the first trimester has passed, okay?" she asked.

"I'll try, but Cam has a sixth sense when it comes to me knowing something," he said and sobered for a moment before the goofy grin was back on his face. "You're gonna have a baby... Oh Angie..." he said and actually started tearing up.

"Oh… If you cry… Don't cry, if you cry then I'm gonna start crying and then…" she said and they both had to laugh about how silly they were.

* * *

"Hey, hey, hey, where's the love of my life, her beautiful daughter and our little sun shine?" Hodgins asked when he walked into the living room that night and found all three of them on the sofa.

"Are you drunk?" Michelle shot back immediately.

"Drunk on happiness, yes," he replied and his smile got even wider as he came closer and tried to take Joshua from Cam- but she kept her hold on him.

"I have no idea what you've taken, but I'm not giving you my son as long as you're high," Cam shook her head.

"I didn't take anything, I just had a good day," he protested and slowly she handed the baby over.

"If you wake him up again with your excitement you'll be the one to stay up and rock him to sleep all night," she warned him, because Joshua had just calmed down and was nearly asleep when his father had come home.

"Hello son, I missed you today," he cooed at him and ignored Cam's warning. "Did you miss me, too?"

"He's just as scary as Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. The whole time I was waiting for him to attack the kids," Michelle teased and giggled along with Cam.

"And you're the mean bubble gum girl," Jack defended himself and sat down beside Cam on the armrest of the couch. "How was your day"? he asked her because he hadn't seen her or talked to her all day. After Angela's admission he had spent the rest of the day with her and had helped her to come up with a plan on what she needed to do first.

"Good. Brennan was there as well and she insisted that the forensic unit will be established again at the premises of the Jeffersonian. Together we were able to make some good points and in the end we won," she reported.

"So, I'll get my lab back?" he wanted to know.

"Yes, we will see about the damages done in our absence tomorrow," she nodded and moved a bit to the side when he slid down so he could actually sit on the couch.

"How did it go with him?" Jack asked her and nodded down to Joshua who was nearly asleep again and seemed content that he was surrounded by his family and everybody was home.

"Very well. I fed him during the break and other than that he was happy to just listen to everyone and doze a bit," Cam said and stroked some of Josh's hair back.

"So you had a good day, too?" he wanted the confirmation.

"Yes, I think so," she agreed and smiled when he pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

"If you all had such good days, maybe you can make mine a bit better, too?" Michelle asked from Cam's other side.

"And how can we do that"? Cam asked suspiciously.

"If you say yes to letting me go on a date with Derek this weekend," she spilled the beans.

"Who is Derek?" Jack wondered.

"He's a senior at my school and he's a really, really good football player and... he likes me," Michelle summed up what seemed important to her. Jack and Cam exchanged a look that clearly said that they were thinking the same thing.

"You're sure you're ready to date again? It's not been that long since you and Perry broke up," Cam tentatively pointed out.

"Why do you have to bring up Perry again? He and I are done and Derek is much cuter anyway," Michelle protested.

"It's just that you and Perry were together for a while," Cam started again, but Michelle interrupted her.

"And now we're not and Derek asked me to go to the movies with him on Saturday. Can I go? Yes or no?" Michelle was unnerved.

"Yes, but only if you drop the 'tude," Cam said sternly.

"And before the second date we have to meet him," Hodgins decided.

"Since when do you get to make the rules?" Michelle got bitchy. Cam wanted to say something but Jack just placed a hand on her arm and she knew that he had this.

"Since you moved in here and agreed that we are a family now, which also means that I am responsible for you as well and therefore get to make some rules, too. Deal with it," Jack said a lot sharper than he usually talked to her.

"I'm going to bed," Michelle just spat back and got up.

"You're not yet on that date, keep that in mind," Cam warned her.

"Fine," the teenager just shrugged, placed a kiss on her brother's head and then left the room.

"Good night Cam, good night Jack, thank you for agreeing on letting me go on that date..." Cam said sarcastically.

"You think I overstepped some boundaries?" Jack wanted to know once he was sure they were alone.

"No, she will have to learn to live with it. I think it was more mentioning Perry that set her off," Cam speculated.

"Must be pretty bad if she goes to bed at eight," he chuckled.

"Looks like Josh will be out in a few as well," she said when she saw that his eyes were mostly closed, but fluttered open from time to time as he fought against sleep.

"We could watch a movie and enjoy the quiet until he wakes for his next feeding before we go to bed," he suggested.

"Sounds good. Let me put him in his bed and change. You can get the snacks and the movie in the meantime," Cam agreed and slowly stood up.

* * *

"Hey babe, when are we gonna meet the others?" Hodgins asked the next day as he walked into their bathroom. He found Cam leaning over the small baby tub giving Joshua a bath.

"Five thirty," she let him know. "And I have to pick up the key before."

"Oh, that's nice, huh, Josh?" he turned his attention to his son for a moment and used the plastic cup to pour some water over his head, careful so nothing would get in his eyes. "You want to take him with us?" he asked Cam then.

"We're not gonna start working today so we could," she shrugged as she used a towel to wipe some drops of water from her sons forehead.

"Knowing the gang we will most likely go for a drink afterwards," he thought out loud, grabbed the bigger baby towel and wrapped Josh in it as he took him from Cam.

"We could invite them over here. That'd be easier for Josh and me," she suggested, dried her hands and pulled the sleeves of her shirt back down.

"Where'd you put the ointment?" he asked her when he couldn't find it and strategically placed the diaper under and over the important parts, so Josh wouldn't get him this time.

"Forgot it in his room. Just a second," Cam replied and hurried out of the room.

"Mommy's a scatter brain sometimes, isn't she?" Jack grinned at Josh, who squealed and smiled back. "You're in a good mood this morning, huh smiley," Hodgins laughed and made Joshua squeal again. "You're laughing at Daddy," he cooed and blew a soft raspberry on the baby's stomach. To his biggest joy Joshua started to laugh in earnest and flailed his arms and legs around. Jack repeated it, laughing along with his son as he paid attention so he wouldn't get a kick in his face.

"He's in a really good mood today and was already all smiley when I took him out of his bed," Cam smiled when she saw them when she came back with the ointment.

"He's really laughing now and squealing along with it," Jack pointed out and began to fix Josh's diaper and dress him in his onesie.

"Yesterday he started grinning while I fed him and made a mess. It amused him even more when I cleaned us up," she replied. "However once he remembered he was hungry his mood changed from one second to the next," she laughed.

"You're a bit crazy," Jack teased the baby again and carefully sat him on the changing table. Immediately Joshua started to laugh again.

"Somehow I know where he got it from," Cam teased and first kissed Jack's stubbly cheek, then Joshua's soft one, sending him in another fit of giggles, which set off Jack again. "Silly boys," she shook her head and laughed along with them.

* * *

Shortly after five thirty that evening they found themselves at the Jeffersonian Institute together with the rest of the crew and Joshua. Cam had picked up the key earlier and unlocked the large glass door to the dark lab.

"Well, I think we should thank Dr. Brennan for insisting that the Jeffersonian reform a forensic unit on the premises," Cam told the others as everybody followed her in.

"And we should recognize that Booth's return to duty at the FBI means that we can work with him again," Brennan said.

"So how come I'm not the linchpin here? I'm the linchpin," Booth replied and looked down to Joshua whom he held.

"I would like to say thanks personally, to all of you for dropping everything you were doing…" Cam thanked them all for what they had done for her.

"…fighting wars," Sweets started.

"…searching for the origins of humanity," Wendell went on.

"…and totally failing!" Daisy ruined it once more.

"…making beautiful music for shoppers..." Angela refused to let Daisy's statement be the end of it.

"You are all my true friends; and I won't forget it," Cam said truly touched, but then sobered and went on with a mischievous look on her face. "But, let there be no mistake, I am the boss and I am in charge." She turned around and switched on the lights. They all just stared at the enormous mastodon on the forensic platform that was part of an exhibition taking place in the lab.

"Oh! That's really gonna get in the way!" she commented dryly when she saw it.

"Totally not my problem!" Caroline called out as the others still stared at the monstrosity with their mouths hanging open. With another wave she left them to their staring.

"Uh… I- I have an announcement to make," Hodgins broke the silence and Angela suddenly looked freaked out.

"Oh, yeah, yes-" she nodded nervously and Cam wondered if she knew that they wanted to invite them all over.

"Yeah," he looked just as confused.

"Yes, he does, um- we're- we're all gonna go home! So… okay?" Angela stuttered.

"No, Iet-" Hodgins wanted to say something but Angela shook her head. Cam wondered again what was going on there and decided to ask him later.

"What Hodgins wanted to say is that we're inviting you all over for drinks," she finished the invitation.

"I'm with you!" Wendell agreed and followed Angela and Hodgins who left the room.

"Seeley, Dr. Brennan, you're gonna join us?" Cam asked the remaining two and took Joshua from Booth.

"Sure, we'll be right over," Booth nodded and Cam left them to talk about whatever it was they obviously needed to talk about.

* * *

"I really like what you did to the house," Angela complimented after she had noticed the renovations they had done.

"The fancy chandeliers are stored in the basement now," Cam laughed and handed Brennan her drink. "Angela, you want Gin, too?" she asked her.

"No, just soda for me, I have to drive," the artist shook her head and bounced Joshua a bit more.

"He'll ruin your shirt if you keep doing that," Hodgins warned her, knowing Joshua would spit out most of the meal he had just had if she kept bouncing him like that.

"I don't mind," Angela shrugged.

"Here," Cam said and handed her a burp cloth and rolled her eyes, because Jack rarely just thought of the simplest solution.

"He's calm, but he follows your voice with his eyes wherever you go," Brennan observed from her spot on the couch.

"It's the part of his brain screaming 'Food!Food!' that does that," Hodgins laughed.

"Oh, shut up Jack!" Cam replied unnerved but then laughed with the others.

"That reminds me... I bought him something," Brennan said and surprised the others. "I saw it and I thought it was... cute," she revealed and handed Cam a bag she dug out of her purse.

"I have to change him anyway and we'll all be able to see if it fits," Cam grinned after she had peeked into the bag.

"What is it?" Jack asked and wanted to look into the bag, too, but Cam stopped him.

"You'll like it," she just shook her head and took Joshua from Angela.

"You mind if I come along? I'm dying to see his room," Angela requested and Cam only shook her head and then left with her. It felt strange walking through the house with Jack's ex-girlfriend who had still been in love with him when she had left months before.

"Hey Cam, I just wanted to say thank you, for never judging me. I know Jack told you why I left," Angela started uncomfortably as they climbed the stairs.

"I can't judge you for something I understand all too well," Cam replied quietly. She turned left when they reached the end of the stairs and led the way to the nursery.

"I will probably always love him, but I know and understand that we will only ever be good friends and that's... more than I could have asked for. And I'm really happy that he has you and Joshua now," Angela finished.

"I would have hated to lose you as my friend," Cam admitted and smiled encouragingly at Angela. "You want to change him or you rather leave the dirty diaper to me?" she grinned then and changed the topic to something much lighter.

"I think I'm gonna pass for now. Once I get to babysit him there won't be a way around it anymore," Angela laughed back and was grateful that the talk had gone so well.

"Ok, then let's see how my little sports star will look in the clothes Brennan bought him," Cam said and pulled the items out of the bag.

"Oh no, she did not..." Angela laughed when she saw it and picked up the pacifier that matched the rest.

* * *

"Oh boy... Bones where did you find that?" Booth laughed when he saw Joshua when Cam came down with him and Angela. The baby was dressed in black jogging pants, a red jersey with a basketball on it, the matching black cap and black baby trainers.

"The pacifier effect strikes again," Hodgins laughed at something else and pointed to the red pacifier Joshua sucked on.

"Pacifier effect?" Brennan asked and seemed to wrack her brain about the scientific theory.

"When he's tired and doesn't want to sleep you give him a pacifier and he's asleep as soon as he makes the first suck," Jack told her.

"Hon' if you get the bassinet from upstairs we can just keep him here. He doesn't mind the noise anyway," Cam addressed her better half.

"Sure. And I'm taking the cap and the shoes with me. It's too warm in here for that," he decided and Cam just shrugged.

"I already took pics, Sweety," Angela laughed when she saw Brennan's disappointed face and the frown disappeared.

"Wendell can you go and get Jack's secret stash of chips?" Cam asked the intern.

"You know about it?" he laughed.

"Oh please... he shouldn't leave crumbs everywhere if he didn't want me to find them," she chuckled, made the rest of the crew laugh as well and sat down, waiting for Jack and the bassinet.

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Amazing**

"So, Angela tells me that you're totally into Booth's girlfriend," Cam said and adjusted Joshua slightly on her chest. She was sitting on one of the stools at the kitchen counter nursing Joshua while Jack stirred the macaroni he had on the stove.

"So not true," he shook his head and added some nutmeg to the noodles.

"So you didn't watch her shows on video? Seeley tells me you told her you loved her on the phone. Something you wanna tell me?" she went on and her tone of voice didn't give him any indication if she was seriously angry with him or just teasing. "I'm just asking to know if you're suddenly into blondes. I doubt dying my hair blonde would suit me." Finally he turned around to look at her and found her biting her cheeks so she wouldn't start laughing.

"Are you trying to torture me or pick a fight? I thought we established that I was lovely," he told her with a duh expression on his face.

"It's just fun teasing you a bit. Although you tend to look after other women from time to time," she pointed out.

"Hey, I'm a man," he shrugged like it was obvious. "And you drool over guys two heads bigger than me and I'm not teasing, right Josh? Tell Mommy she's being unfair." With a fork he lifted out one macaroni and tried it.

"Leave Josh out of it. As long as he's literally attached to my boob he won't side with you," Cam shot back and looked down at her son. Whenever they spoke above a whisper he would stop nursing and listen intently to what they were saying, and this time was no exception. "Hey, honey, you want to finish eating or listen to us bicker? If you choose the latter I can get dressed and burp you," she turned to her son. As if he had understood her he gave her a wide toothless smile and let go of her nipple.

"Sometimes I think he might talk back any day," Jack commented when he saw the scene.

"Yeah, sometimes it seems like he understands every word," Cam nodded and placed the baby against her shoulder, gently patting his back until he released a loud burp and a bit of milk. She wiped it away with the burp cloth she had strategically lying over her shoulder and then repositioned him once more so he could see his father.

"But speaking of Hannah; When do you think Brennan will blow?" Hodgins resumed the earlier topic.

"I honestly doubt she will," Cam said and got off the chair, holding Joshua with her left while she took out a glass with her right. "She's always very controlled and Booth seems happy... plus she's pretended she didn't know what we were talking about when we told her that we thought she and Booth would be a couple once they were both back." She filled some orange juice in the glass and took a sip.

"They are even more frustrating than watching Pride and Prejudice or Gone with the Wind," Hodgins sighed and poured the water and the noodles in a colander in the sink.

"You just set yourself up for some more teasing," Cam laughed when she heard his analogy.

"Says the woman who has a whole shelf full of harlequin novels," Jack rolled his eyes and sprayed the casserole with butter before he added the macaroni, the sauce and the cheese.

"Oooh, now it's getting ugly," she said and scrunched up her face mostly for Joshua's amusement. And he really started laughing and stuck out his tongue, a bit of drool running down his chin. "You really are the cutest little baby boy ever," Cam gushed over her son.

"Got it all from Daddy," Hodgins winked at her as he pushed the casserole in the oven.

"Yeah, sure," Cam snorted and kissed Joshua's forehead.

"Hey, what is it with you baiting me today? I thought you were joking but now I'm not so sure anymore," he complained and came over to where she was leaning against the counter. "Did I do anything to piss you off?" he asked her and looked intently at her while she was still looking at Joshua and wiped the drool off his chin with her finger.

"No, you didn't do anything," she finally replied but the way she said it made it obvious that something was wrong.

"Camille," he dragged out her name and wrapped one arm around her waist.

"Jack," she replied, a little smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, while she obviously tried to stay mad at him for whatever she was mad about.

"You wanna stand here and keep on picking at me or you gonna tell me what's going on?" he asked and took Joshua from her, because he knew that he wouldn't get a decent answer from her as long as she was staring at their son.

"I saw Angela today," she started and he only raised his eyebrows in question when she stopped after that. "And she walked into the room eating crackers," she stopped again.

"And?"

"And no one eats crackers for fun," she told him her conclusion. "So I told her to her face that she is pregnant, but I guess I'm not telling you anything new."

"Well, it's not mine," he said immediately and held up one hand in innocence, while he adjusted Joshua with the other.

"I know that," she looked at him like he had lost his mind. "But you knew about this and you didn't tell me," she came to the point - finally.

"Angela asked me not to say anything, so I didn't," he pointed out.

"I felt like a fool when she told me and added that you've known for a while," she accused him and put the glass she was still holding forcefully down on the counter.

"She's a friend Cam and she asked me to keep quiet. When Booth tells you stuff I don't complain," Jack pointed out.

"I know. But this is huge and it still hurt," she nodded and tickled Joshua's foot, making him smile again. When Jack didn't say anything she looked up from Joshua and found him smiling at her. "What?" she asked him, not understanding what he was smiling about.

"I'm just amazed once again how open we are able to communicate. A few months ago you would have sulked and made snide remarks, but you would have never admitted that me keeping a secret from you with Angela hurts you," he explained and leaned forward, kissing her softly.

"You need to know," she shrugged.

"I do. And I'm sorry I hurt you, but I think you know why I didn't tell you. I promised her, it's her news and it's not my place to tell it," he spelled it out for her.

"I know," she nodded again. "Can we eat?" she changed the topic.

"Sure, the macaroni should be done by now. Are we ok?" he replied.

"Of course. We talked about it, I got it off my chest and we're good," Cam told him. Jack smiled and hugged her to him, careful not to crush Joshua in between them.

"I love you," he spoke against her ear.

"Love you, too," she grinned and pressed her lips against his stubbly cheek.

"Then let's eat before Mr. Greedy here decides he wants to finish his own meal," Jack chuckled.

"Oh he is greedy alright," Cam agreed while Jack got the plates and the silverware and she took the casserole out of the oven. "Even though I've been applying the balm he's managed to crack open my nipples. It really hurts now when he's nursing."

"Would it help if you pump more and feed him with the bottle?" Jack wanted to know.

"Probably. I guess I could try, but the problem is that he's really picky when he's sleepy and refuses the bottle," Cam said.

"I know. He keeps screaming at me when I try to feed him lately. But he has to get used to it at some point," Jack pointed out and sat down while Cam put the food on their plates.

"Would be a big help at work, too, if I don't have to stop my autopsies every two hours and then begin anew. I lose so much time," Cam agreed and sat down to eat.

"You could always switch him to formula if it gets too hard," Jack offered and blew some cold air on the hot noodles on his fork.

"I thought about it, but I don't really like the idea," she told him between two bites.

"What idea?" Michelle, who just walked into the room, asked.

"Switching Josh to formula," her mother told her. "And I didn't think you'd be back by now otherwise we would have waited with dinner."

"I didn't know either. Derek's practice was cut short today because two players got into a fight and the coach sent them all to the bleachers to give 'the talk'," Michelle reported.

"You did your homework already?" Cam wanted to know.

"No, not yet. I couldn't concentrate because Breanne went to watch the practice with me," the teen shrugged and took the first bite of the mac and cheese.

"Michelle, it's nine already and you haven't even started your homework. I thought we had a deal?" her mother reminded her and immediately Michelle looked annoyed.

"I know, but I promised Derek I'd be there today and I couldn't find the time before," she snapped.

"You made a promise to us, too and I want you to keep it. Either you do your homework at school and then watch Derek's practice or you come straight home after school and skip the football practice. It's one or the other," Cam lectured her.

"The world isn't all black and white and sometimes things don't work like that," Michelle raised her voice. "Damn. Why can't you just understand that?"

"In this case it is black and white and there are no grey areas. You do your homework before football practice or you don't go. That's the deal and it's not debatable. But if you want to try you can come straight home every day," Cam told her and held up her hand when Michelle wanted to interrupt her. "That's point one. Point two: I don't want you cursing around your brother. Actually I'd prefer it if you wouldn't curse at all around here. I hoped his first words would be Mommy, Daddy and Michelle and not damn, hell or fuck it. You got me?" Now Cam was done.

"Yes. Sure. Whatever. Thanks for ruining my appetite," Michelle replied angrily, pushed her plate away from her and marched out of the kitchen.

"And she wonders why I'd rather still have Perry around," Cam shook her head in annoyance and then continued to eat.

"Maybe it would be different if he hadn't been talking on his cellphone the whole time he was here. I felt like your brother was here when he kept saying 'Yo man'," Hodgins remembered the one time Michelle's new boyfriend had been over.

"That might be another reason why I don't like him," Cam chuckled. Joshua, who had watched the exchange with big eyes, chose that moment to start fussing.

"You're done? I think I'll be able to keep him calm for about another minute before he screams the house down," Jack motioned with his chin in the direction of her plate.

"I'm eating, I'm eating," Cam said to her two men and started eating as fast as she could.

* * *

Cam found herself in the Bone room, feeling like a psychiatrist while she tried to get Mr. Fisher back on track.

"O-kay. First, tell me the brainstorm," she told him after he had let on that Brennan had outsmarted him.

"Well, note the microfractures in the Haversian canals," he said.

"Yes. From a blow to the skull?" she speculated.

"These are from the victim's femur. The victim was frozen for two days!" he informed her.

"That's what caused the microfractures," she knew and saw Fisher yawning. When he had come back for the first time after he had been admitted to the loony bin, he had told her that yawning was his sign of depression. "Why are you yawning? Are you depre…don't yawn," she kind of begged him.

"I suck," came his gloomy reply.

" How long ago did Dr. Brennan have her brainstorm?" she asked him.

"About 45 minutes ago," he sulked.

"So basically, you're 45 minutes behind arguably the greatest forensic anthropologist in the nation?" she asked him and couldn't keep herself from throwing the arguably in there.

"That's one way to look at it, but..." he tried to feed his depression.

"I'm not a psychiatrist but it seems to me that if your shrink says look on the bright side, he means give yourself the benefit of the doubt," she informed him.

"Yeah?" he wanted reassurance.

"Yeah," she said when something occurred to her. "The victim was killed, and then frozen?" she wanted to know.

"Apparently."

"Put on ice?" she asked.

"Metaphorically speaking," he replied.

"Or not," she more muttered than said and exited quickly.

"What do you, what do you mean, 'or not'? What? What did I miss? No, what did I miss?" she heard Fisher call after her but kept on walking. She could only take so much of him at a time. She informed Brennan of her thought and then went to see her two guys. Hodgins was sitting on the mezzanine with Angela and had Joshua lying on the floor on his playmat, biting down on one of the cold teething rings. Time flew and Cam couldn't believe that her baby boy was already four months old and fighting the pain of getting his first teeth.

"Hey honey," Cam cooed when she saw him and immediately his head turned in the direction she was coming from and a large smile appeared on his face. The teething ring flew through the air as he kicked his legs and flailed his arms around while he squealed, babbled and made spit bubbles all somewhat at the same time. "Did you miss me, baby?" she asked him and laughed. "Aw, I missed you, too." She picked him up and kissed his cheek noisily, not minding the drool.

"He must be happy, since it's the first time I've seen him smile since you left him with me this morning. Jack was able to calm him down when he started crying, but this is the first smile," Angela laughed when she saw the happy baby.

"I was surrounded by gloomy-ness just now. I think I need to talk to Sweets, maybe he can adjust Fisher's dose of anti-depressants before he pulls us all over to the darkness," Cam only half joked and sat down on the couch next to the other two, Joshua still in her arms.

"You want to eat or keep biting your ring?" she asked him, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. "We'll just try and see if you're hungry, huh?" she concluded and lay him down on her legs so she could open her nursing bra and push her top aside.

"Doesn't he usually make it clear when he's hungry?" Angela wondered.

"Since he started teething it's hard to tell if he's crying for food or because of pain. And when he eats he usually doesn't take that much at a time," Cam replied and positioned Joshua and tried to get him to latch on, but he kept turning his head away.

"Guess that's a no," Jack laughed and took him so Cam could adjust her clothes once more. Joshua started crying however as soon as Cam handed him over so she took him back from Jack and just rocked him from side to side against her chest.

"Can you get him another teething ring from the fridge? We need to clean the other one first," Cam turned to Jack who nodded and got up.

"Did Jack drop him or something? Why is he rejecting him?" Angela asked when Hodgins was out of earshot.

"He isn't rejecting him," Cam shook her head, still rocking Joshua who had calmed down a bit and currently bit Cam's fingers. "One day he wants only him, another day he wants only me. Then there are days when he needs us both or just keeps crying no matter what. Just as I was getting used to sleeping for a bit longer at a time he has to get his teeth," she sighed.

"Seeing this makes me a bit scared of doing it all alone," Angela admitted and patted her belly. There wasn't anything visible yet, but they all knew that that would change soon.

"We're all here for you," Cam said, because she knew she couldn't really promise anything else.

"I know. And by that time the daycare will be here so I might grab a cat nap sometimes during lunch," Angela laughed.

"Meh, I doubt you'll do that," Cam said with a knowing smile and rubbed Joshua's gums with her fingers when he opened his mouth and just let her do it.

"Why? You'll keep me busy to make up for my maternity leave?" Angela wondered.

"No, but once the baby is here it will be hard enough to give him away to daycare and I bet you we will both spend our breaks with our kids and not asleep," Cam told her. Every time she had to give Joshua away to some babysitter, no matter if it was Michelle, Booth or Angela she missed him and she was always glad when she was back and had him in her arms again.

"It's hard to let them go, huh?" Angela asked touched.

"You have no idea," Cam agreed and leaned down and kissed Joshua's nose.

"Here, I brought the Calgel as well," Hodgins said when he came back and handed her the ring and the teething gel.

"We'll do something for the pain first and then see if you might want to eat," Cam told her son and rubbed the gel on his gums. He started to slurp at the gel like it was the most delicious thing ever and bit her finger a few times. While the adults talked about the case and Brennan's strange new obsession for vernacular Joshua first bit his teething ring and then finally decided that he was hungry after all. He stayed latched on for much longer after he was done eating, always whimpering when Cam wanted to unlatch him. Finally he just fell asleep in the comfort of his mother's breast.

* * *

Another week later Cam came into Hodgins' lab with the biggest smile on her face and Joshua sitting on her hip, while he was sucking and chewing on a wet washcloth.

"Guess who just called me?" she asked him without giving him any hint.

"Uhm, judging by your smile? The tooth fairy? Santa Claus?" he asked clueless.

"The production company who's responsible for the Science Dude. They want to shoot a show here at the Jeffersonian on our platform," she let him know.

"Really, that's amazing!" he mirrored the most famous quote of the Science Dude.

"Oh please, don't start," Cam rolled her eyes.

"Hey, you came in here grinning like the Cheshire Cat so don't tell me you're not feeling the same," he knew.

"I do find this exciting, but I'm wondering how I will get Brennan to agree to that, especially because she was requested as a special guest on the show," Cam explained the main problem.

"Oh boy, no chance in hell she'll agree to that, but it'll be fun seeing you try to convince her," Hodgins laughed and looked through his microscope to take a closer look at whatever he was examining.

"Thanks for your support," Cam rolled her eyes at him putting his finger on the wound.

"You're welcome," he was still laughing and just winked at her. "When are you gonna break the news to her?"

"Tomorrow, since that's when they will be coming over," she replied and adjusted Joshua since he was kicking his legs like mad. "Joshua, you're kicking me," she told her son and held him in front of her stomach.

"You want me to take him so you can prepare for the fight?" Jack asked her.

"No thanks. I just got him to calm down about twenty minutes ago. As long as he's happy being carried around and gnawing on the wash cloth I can manage," Cam said, knowing that Jack had to get some work done as well and by the way his lab looked he was buried in work.

"Alright, then see you later," he simply agreed and quickly kissed Joshua's cheek before he went back to work.

"Is he asleep?" Cam asked later that night when Jack came down into the living room after Joshua's bath without the baby.

"Yes, he screamed so much that he fell asleep totally exhausted from his screaming fit," Jack said and tiredly rubbed his forehead with his hand.

"The gel didn't work?" Cam asked.

"Not this time. Maybe he was just cranky. He didn't nap this afternoon," Jack replied and leaned back against the couch and slid further down so he was halfway lying on it.

"You look tired," Cam observed and gently tugged on his arm until he was resting his back against her chest and she could wrap her arms around him from behind.

"Yeah. So far when it was my turn to get up with Josh I was lucky and didn't have to work too much, but today they really gave it all to me," he said with a tired sigh.

"You can relax now, watch some TV," Cam told him and started to run her fingers through his hair and massage his skull.

"Mmmh, can you keep that up," he purred and closed his eyes, letting his head fall back onto her shoulder.

"Sure," she smiled and pressed her lips against his cheek for a long moment.

"Can you keep that up, too?" he asked her with a smile and didn't open his eyes.

"Sure," she said again and smiled against his skin when she placed another kiss on his cheek. Slowly Jack turned his head and kissed her for real. They kept it soft and sweet and they both smiled when they pulled back.

"You wanna go upstairs and have some private adult time?" Jack grinned at her and kissed her again before he moved off her and turned completely around so he could see her better.

"Oh really? I thought you were tired?" Cam laughed.

"Not that tired, baby," he laughed with her, got off the couch and then pulled her up and took her in his arms.

"Never too tired for sex," Cam giggled and kissed him again.

"Never," he mumbled against her lips and changed the kiss from soft to passionate. Cam wrapped her arms around his neck and his hand snuck underneath her blouse while they kissed in the middle of the living room. It was great to be like that again. Between their jobs, Joshua and Michelle there wasn't much time for them anymore, just to be together. When his hand wandered further up under her blouse she broke the kiss.

"We should really take this upstairs before we get busted by Michelle," she pointed out, but kissed him again just because she liked kissing him. She had just finished speaking when he swooped her up in his arms bridal style. "What are you doing, crazy man?" she screeched and laughed.

"Going up to the bedroom so I can have my wicked way with you," he replied and his smile widened when she snuggled into him and let him carry her without putting up a fight.

"'Kay" she just said, the smile not leaving her face.

* * *

The next morning Cam introduced Brennan to the Science Dude and after a little bit of talking she agreed at least to let him work as a substitute intern for this one new case. She was excited to have him around and she knew that most of the team felt the same - all except for Brennan. Hodgins was excited as well, even if he didn't know yet that the Dude would be sticking around for the case at least. He was watching Joshua while Cam was working on the pieces of the body they had so far.

"Excuse me, Dr. Hodgins," Bunsen Jude said when he stood in the door of Jack's lab. He was working on something while Joshua was asleep in his bed in the corner of the room.

"Yeah," he said distractedly and then turned around. "Whoa, Professor Bunsen Jude the Science Dude! Hey man, it is an honor to meet you," he greeted him happily and the two scientists shook hands.

"Thank you. Dr. Brennan sent me to…" the new squintern started but Jack interrupted him.

"Observe, analyze…"

"Deduce!" the two said in unison.

"No offense Dr. Hodgins, but you're a little older than my usual viewers," the professor pointed out.

"When I was in college, we used to have this drinking game, every time you said the word 'Amazing!'", we," he started his tale and lifted an empty beaker to his mouth as to which the Dude didn't seem too pleased. "We… well anyway, I'm very familiar with your work. I even watch it now with my son," he finished and pointed to the cot in the corner. Bunsen Jude leaned forward and just raised his eyebrows when he saw just how young Joshua still was.

"I'm pitching in to help Dr. Brennan. She sent me to see if you found anything out from the beard," he went back on topic. Hodgins showed him the victim's beard which he had pinned onto a board.

"Yucky," the professor commented.

"Yeah so, observe. Insects, various mineral particulates, mucus," Hodgins started his own lecture.

"Bugs, dirt, snot. Is that blood?"

"Analyze. It's barbeque sauce. More specifically, a vinegar and tomato based sauce most commonly found in western Virginia," Hodgins knew.

"You're thinking you can trace his location before he passed away from the clues in his beard," the intern half stated half asked.

"Yes I do. Deduce!" the entomologist grinned happily.

"Amazing!" the professor smiled and before Hodgins could help himself he picked up the beaker with Joshua's chamomile tea in it and downed it. Once he realized what he had just done because the taste of the tea registered with him, he made a face and coughed. He hated chamomile tea.

* * *

Later that day as he was bouncing Joshua up and down while he waited for some other test results Cam came into his lab. She had stopped by just half an hour before to feed Joshua so he was surprised to see her again so soon.

"Hey babe, miss us already?" he asked her with a smile.

"Of course I do, but that's not why I'm here," she replied and made sure to kiss the two most important men in her life. "I need you to watch Josh for a good while longer or I'll watch him and you drive up to where Booth and Brennan dug up the rest of the body somewhere in the woods."

"I'm still not done with the particulates on the hands. If you bring me a soil sample and the body with as many maggots as possible I guess I'll be good," he decided.

"Alright, then I'll take the truck and some lab techs to help me up there," Cam nodded. "I pumped some milk earlier so if he needs to eat before I get back, it's in the small fridge in my office," she informed him.

"I hope not next to the tissue sample and the one lost eyeball," he joked.

"I'm not you Jack," Cam teased him and then left after kissing them both once more.

When Cam got back with the rest of the remains Hodgins brought Joshua over to Angela before he went to the platform to join Cam and Bunsen Jude. He and Cam had become somewhat negligent at times to keep Joshua away from any gross things, but they both drew the line at human remains. Hodgins didn't mind spiders, flies or maggots and Cam had no problem with Joshua being present when she analyzed some tissue samples or wrote her reports, but dangerous or strong smelling stuff or dead bodies where a no go. At first they had intended to keep Joshua away from every part of their work, but as he was around all day that simply wasn't possible. Angela usually didn't mind watching him as long as he wasn't just screaming because of his teeth. Even Brennan had watched him on occasions and Wendell, when he was around, had become Josh's number one babysitter. He had a lot of experience with kids and Joshua loved him. Now however they had to unwrap the body that Cam had brought with her and there was no way that Joshua could be around.

Cam and Hodgins had both thrown on their lab coats, or in Cam's case her tight autopsy outfit, and aprons as well as rubber gloves. However that didn't seem enough for the current squintern.

"Alright everyone, are we wearing our masks and gloves? Health and safety first," he said as if he was talking to the kids on his show. Cam and Hodgins however only looked quizzically at him and showed him their gloves, signalizing that that was all they needed. No goggles or masks.

"Really, that's how you roll? Alright," he seemed shocked, but knew he had no choice. This wasn't a science show for TV, this was real and it wasn't the first dead body they'd worked on. Carefully they opened the body bag and revealed the victim's remains.

"Human remains, rotting. The medical term that describes the condition of this flesh is… anybody, anybody?" Bunsen Jude used his humor to keep himself from throwing up once more. He hadn't been able to stomach it when he had seen the cut of hands and head at first. Hodgins raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Ah, it's gooey," he answered in a not exactly scientific manner.

"Good. That's not exactly what I was looking for," the Science Dude told him. Cam raised her hand and answered.

"Decomposed due to autolysis, the destruction of cells as a result of an aseptic chemical process," she recounted, knowing this stuff without thinking about it since she always had to include it into her reports, just with a few more latin expressions thrown in.

"Amazing! But you had me at 'decomposed'," the Dude smiled and she was pretty sure that "decomposed" had been all he had understood.

"Okay, okay, ask something else," Hodgins said, eager to get something right as well. However Cam raised her hand and then spoke before the two men could say anything.

"I'd like to know how this person died," she said, making it clear that the fun was over and they had to get back to work.

"Dr. Saroyan is the boss. We must always respect our superiors and our mom and dad. That's why I tell kids to ask first before removing simple household items when doing an experiment," Bunsen Jude pointed out and when Cam looked at him and raised her eyebrows challengingly it was all Hodgins could do to keep himself from groaning at being reminded of authority. Instead he cleared his throat and turned to the remains, so he wouldn't see Cam's smug grin anymore.

"Cause of death," the intern started and moved the magnifying lens over the remains. "And there it is, the cause of death."

"Just like that?" Cam asked and couldn't believe that he had found it so easily.

"Yes," he nodded and pointed to the screen. "Bowing inward fracture. Fracture lines indicating high velocity trauma, most likely a gunshot."

"You'd throw it to a cartoon now, right? To explain velocity," Hodgins knew.

"Captain Speedy falling off the cliff, explaining velocity is the rate of change of displacement with time!" the TV star confirmed.

"I love Captain Speedy!" Hodgins exclaimed.

"The trajectory is a straight shot to the heart. Fatal," Cam said after throwing them both a dirty look. They would never get anything done if they kept talking about the show.

"Which is sad but amazing," Bunsen Jude said.

"Amazing," Hodgins repeated and grinned teasingly at his girlfriend.

* * *

After a talk with Brennan and Angela, Cam had ordered Hodgins and the Science Dude to find out the cause of death through an experiment, hoping she wouldn't regret it. Joshua was with Jack and she hoped that he would refrain from blowing up the lab once more, for his son's sake.

Jack had Joshua propped up in his bouncer on one of the lab tables and he was contently playing with yet another teething ring while his father was setting up the experiment.

"Human ribs can withstand approximately four hundred pounds of force before breaking. Ribs one through three are the hardest with four through nine getting progressively weaker," Hodgins knew and tied another wooden stick to the rest of the construct.

"Our victim was a large man with big muscles and dense bones," the intern added.

"I never thought of using paint stirrer sticks in place of ribs," Hodgins admitted.

"Many common household items mimic the properties of human body parts like cantaloupe melons or pudding."

"I'm not gonna ask about the pudding," Jack decided and set the model up at the end of the room before he walked back to the table Joshua was sitting on.

"Start slowly and work our way up," Bunsen advised.

"Professor," he said and extended a bowl filled with various projectiles to him. He picked a baseball.

"Thank you," he said and got ready to throw it while Hodgins picked up the speed gun.

"Captain Speedy would say the speed will give us velocity and force," Hodgins commented and turned around to Joshua. "Pay attention son, your first live experiment." Joshua only gurgled when he heard his father's voice but didn't seem to care otherwise. Bunsen Jude threw the ball but it only bounced off the model and didn't break anything.

"Wow," Jack said and checked the speed gun. "That's fifty-six miles per hour, which is 25.3 meters per second. That's not enough," he knew and picked the next projectile himself.

* * *

"Did you have fun with your daddy today?" Cam asked Joshua that night when she changed him into his pajamas. She herself had changed already into blue hot pants and a long black t-shirt. "I just hope he didn't get too crazy. Sometimes he gets carried away, you know," she went on and fastened the first side of the diaper. Joshua was looking at her babbling and drooling, but, of course, didn't reply. "You're feeling better, honey? You seem better. Maybe your teeth aren't bothering you as much at the moment." She leaned down and kissed his chubby cheek before she picked him up.

"I think we have a nice rhythm going, don't you think?" she asked him as she sat down in the rocking chair and got ready to nurse him. "You eat and then go to sleep while Daddy cooks dinner and then we eat while you're resting. I like that. I hope you're ok with it, too." Joshua smiled up at her like he wanted to give her an answer. "Are you smiling because you agree or because you know that Mommy's gonna feed you?" Cam chuckled when she saw it and positioned him. "Go easy on Mommy, she's still really sore from you eating so much and using me as a teething ring," she let him know, but flinched anyway when he latched on.

"I really don't know how much longer I'll be able to do that if you keep it up," she sighed, but Joshua just kept contently sucking away, not aware that he was causing his mother pain. Cam watched him nurse quietly and only ran her fingers through his black hair. When he started scratching her skin with his fingers she gently took his hand and let him wrap his fingers around one of hers.

"Or we could call Paul and ask him if he knows something that could help us. Now that Mommy's ob-gyn moved that's our best shot," she contemplated. "What do you think? Should I call him later?" she asked and Joshua grinned up at her without letting go of her breast.

"You'd like that, honey? You'd like Mommy nursing you for a while longer?" she cooed at him and smiled, happy that he was so happy at the moment. Joshua squealed and laughed as well and this time let go of her nipple.

"If it makes you this happy then I'll call him later once you're asleep," Cam kept cooing at him simply to make him smile. She let the burp cloth fall down from her shoulder and onto his face, then took it away again. "Hi there," she greeted him before she dropped the cloth again. "Hi Joshua," she greeted him once more and he started squealing again and laughed, his whole face lighting up as he got louder and louder each time Cam took the cloth away. "How about we go back to your food and switch sides?" she finally stopped while they were both smiling brightly. She placed him on her legs while she closed the nursing bra on one side and opened the other. "Come here, my love," she told him and hugged him to her for a moment before she positioned him again and resumed feeding him so he would be fed, changed and asleep by the time Jack would be done cooking.

* * *

"Is it ok if I leave you alone with the dirty dishes and call Paul before it gets too late?" Cam asked Jack when they were done eating.

"I'm not alone. I'm sure Michelle will help me," he replied and ignored the snort that came from the teen.

"Ok then," Cam decided to ignore it as well and took the nearest phone off the cradle and searched for Paul's number in the phonebook.

"Why do you need to call Paul?" Michelle asked her while she slowly picked up the dirty plates and brought them over to the dishwasher.

"I need to ask him something," Cam just said and kept flipping through the phonebook in the phone.

"Private or professional?" the curious teen wanted to know.

"Professional."

"Oh please tell me you're not pregnant again," Michelle said alarmed.

"Uhm, no, I am not, but I don't get why it would be so horrible for you if I were," Cam wondered and looked up from the phone.

"It wouldn't be horrible, but one screaming little stinker at a time is enough if you ask me," Michelle shrugged.

"Then remember that when you're with your new boyfriend," Cam pointed out and finally found Paul's number.

"Hello?" he answered almost immediately.

"Hi Paul, it's Cam," she grinned and left the kitchen and went into the office so she would have more privacy.

"Oh hi. It's good to hear from you. How are you? And how's Joshua? I haven't seen him in a while," he asked.

"Oh we're fine and he's getting bigger every day. We really need to meet up soon," Cam agreed. "And how are you?"

"I'm great. Busy as ever, but great," he replied.

"That's… great," she commented and didn't really know how to get to the topic she wanted to talk about.

"Why are you calling? Is there anything I can do for you?" he seemed to sense what was going on.

"Actually there is," she admitted. "I'm sorry I'm intruding on your free time, but between Josh and work it's just hard to get anything done during the day."

"That's fine. You can always call me, you know that," he commented and Cam realized what a close friend he had become to them during the months of her pregnancy.

"I know," she confirmed.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"Actually I'm not really sure if you can help me, but maybe you can refer me to someone who can," she started. "I'm still breastfeeding Joshua and I'd like to keep doing it for a while, but no matter how much balm I apply my nipples are just cracked and hurting," she told him.

"Usually women have that problem when they start nursing. How long has this been going on?" he wanted to know.

"For about two weeks. Ever since he started teething," she sighed.

"He's what, 15 weeks now?" Paul asked.

"16 tomorrow," Cam nodded.

"Then it's alright that he's already getting his teeth. Usually the problems you describe are either a result of dry skin due to an eczema or, and this is the case about 70% of the time, the wrong nursing position. Him teething might result in him not latching on correctly anymore," Paul replied.

"It feels like he's latched on alright when he bites me. It's just his gums but it still hurts," she admitted.

"Are your nipples only cracked or bleeding as well?"

"No, just cracked and sore," she said.

"I really think it's a position problem. Try nursing him in a completely different position so he really has to latch on. If you want to I can give you the number of a lactation specialist who might help you," Paul offered.

"A lactation specialist?" she couldn't help but laugh. "Jack will have a field day when he hears that job description," she chuckled. "But it would be nice if you could give me the number, just in case the positioning thing doesn't work."

"I'll have to look it up at work tomorrow and will call you then, alright?"

"Thank you Paul, I really owe you!"

"Let me see that beautiful baby boy of yours soon so he won't forget me," he offered with a smile that was audible through the phone line. "Oh and tell Jack I'd really love to go to the batting cages again. Maybe he wants to come."

"I'll tell him to give you a call. If you go he can take Josh with him and you can teach him while I catch up on some sleep," she teased.

"Knowing Hodgins he'll buy Joshua a small bat for the occasion," Paul knew and they both laughed.

"OK, I'll see you soon," Cam finally said.

"See you soon. Bye Cam," he said goodbye.

"Bye Paul and thanks again," she said and then hung up.

"And could he help you?" Jack asked when came back into the kitchen.

"We'll see. He thinks it has to do with Joshua's teething. It might cause him not to really latch on anymore. Oh, and he asked me to tell you that he wants to go to the batting cages with you and Josh. Just give him a call," she let him know.

"I somewhat doubt that Josh was mentioned when he talked about the batting cages, but I can take him, of course," Jack grinned knowingly and handed a pot to Cam so she could put it away.

* * *

The next day Cam was walking with Hodgins towards his lab. He had come to her to inform her that so far they hadn't found the murder weapon and also to let her know that Joshua was getting fussy and most likely wanted to be fed soon.

"Nothing. You found nothing?" Cam couldn't believe it, because no matter how crazy his experiments usually got, they almost always led to some result.

"We have tried everything we can think of. The problem is projectiles either bounce off the rib, crack it or fragment it into several pieces," he let her know.

"But nothing knocked out one small fragment?"

"It's like I told the Science Dude. We need something that strikes at more than forty meters per second but less than seventy meters per second," he explained.

"Which translates to?" she wanted to know, because she had no idea how fast certain items were flying when thrown or shot.

"Ah, faster than a golf ball hit with a three iron but slower than a rubber bullet," he clarified for her just as they entered his lab where Bunsen Jude was working on something while Joshua was sitting in his bouncer again and seemed to find his foot really tasty because he stuck it in his mouth and played with it.

"Oh, good Lord," Cam exclaimed when she saw the model they had built complete with wooden ribs, a red heart and a head made out of a balloon with a face drawn on it. Bunsen Jude then turned around and held a potato gun in his hands while his lab coat was soiled with red color.

"I think I'm on to something," he declared proudly.

"Whoa, you made a bazooka!" Hodgins said impressed as his face lit up.

"If you mean a potato bazooka, then yes. PVC tube, commercial hairspray as an accelerant. Hold and load," the intern explained and handed Hodgins the gun.

"Man, I haven't shot a potato gun since I was a kid," Hodgins said happily.

"Is this in any way safe? Remember you have a baby in here," Cam pointed out and realized then that Joshua was wearing a little lab coat, tiny goggles and earmuffs for kids.

"Strictly eighteen and over so I am completely out of my comfort zone," the Science Dude admitted, but Hodgins shrugged it off.

"He's just fine and far enough away to be out of the danger zone. You know I won't let anything happen to him," he told Cam and she nodded. She looked at Joshua again and shook her head when his outfit registered with her again. He looked cute and ridiculous at the same time, but didn't seem to mind the goggles or the earmuffs. "Okay, loaded and ready, Professor," Hodgins said and handed the gun back to the professor while he got the speed gun ready.

"Spuds away!" the Science Dude said and Cam covered her own ears with her hands. He fired the gun and the rib broke, just as it was supposed to, while the bag with the red liquid ripped, signalizing that the heart would be hurt in the process.

"Wow, one hundred and forty miles per hour so that's 62.5 meters per second, give or take. Check the playback on that," Hodgins exclaimed and showed them the video.

"Eureka!" Bunsen Jude agreed.

"I see your results are congruent with what happened but are we really saying that our victim was killed by a potato gun?" Cam asked them and they both just grinned. "Ok, then let's tell Booth so I can feed Josh before he gets cranky." Cam knew she had no chance to argue with that and took Joshua out of his bouncy seat. "You look ridiculous, baby," she told him, but kissed his cheek anyway before she took off the goggles and the earmuffs, leaving the lab coat on.

"I have to say I think his science outfit was amazing," Bunsen Jude disagreed with her.

"I already took pictures and can send them to you," Hodgins grinned and then followed Cam to the phone so they could talk to Booth and Brennan.

"Hey Hodgins, you got a weapon for us?" Booth asked and had obviously checked the caller ID.

"It's a potato gun," he said.

"Did you get that thesis from the Dude?" Brennan asked suspiciously.

"That would be correct," Cam grinned and placed a hand at the back of Hodgins' chair and adjusted Joshua slightly with the other.

"Okay, murder by vegetable?" Booth asked.

"Well, not literally," Hodgins pointed out.

"Murder by something that approximates the speed, force and velocity of a potato. A blunt, malleable projectile moving at a relatively slow speed," Bunsen Jude clarified.

"That is very good work," Brennan offered one of her rare compliments.

"Ah, but good enough that you will agree to appear on my show?" Bunsen used the opportunity.

"Yes," Brennan agreed after a moment and the three on the other end of the line looked happily at each other.

"Amazing," Hodgins said once Booth had hung up for sure and tickled Joshua's foot. He was rewarded with a smile from his son.

"I better get him fed before his amazing mood changes. Will you get everything ready for the show tonight?" she asked Hodgins and the Science Dude and offered Joshua her finger when he started to search for food when she held him against her chest to carry him to her office.

"Of course," they nodded and she was off to tend to her son, hoping Paul's advice would help.

**TBC**

**As you see I haven't forgotten about this story. I was just distracted and busy. I still love the idea of them though. I hope you feel the same way and still read this!  
**


End file.
